A Dark Past
by WildVegeta
Summary: Bulla is a very curious girl. And stubborn, like her parents. Thanks to a small slip from Vegeta's tongue, the witty girl finds a way to convince not only her mother, but Trunks and Goku, to find out a bit about the Prince's past. But Bulma, Bulla, Trunks and Goku may find more than what they bargained for when they travel through time and space into a very dark past.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Hello everyone! I'm back with another DBZ fic. It's been a while, but this plot - although awfully overused - has been bugging me a lot lately and I wanted to have my try. It is different, though. It will have interesting twists and surprises that I hope all of you enjoy greatly because this is why I write: for the readers! Please, don't forget to review.

**Warnings: **For the ones who know me, you know: the usual; abuse, torture, bad words. For the others: abuse, torture, bad words. Please don't read it if it will offend you in any way. This is not for the weak of heart. I do intend to make this very, very heartbreaking and angsty.

**Disclaimer: **I only own the surprises that will come further ahead. The rest belongs to Akira Toriyama and the other little geniuses.

**Note:** Please don¡t forget to favorite and review! No flames, though.

* * *

Vegeta growled as he heard someone knocking on the GR.

He rolled his eyes and turned the gravity down when he sensed who it was. The bots died immediately and fell down with loud thuds on the ground, cooling down to await their next activation. He dried his face and neck with a white towel and pressed the button to open the door. Bulla stood there, her hands on her hips in a very Bulma-like way. One of her eyebrows was arching way up. Vegeta imitated her, arching his eyebrow in question.

"Any particular reason why you are interrupting my training, besides that necessity of yours of annoying me which you inherited from your harpy of a mother?" he said in his raspy voice.

"Yes, there _is _a particular reason why I am interrupting your training, daddy. You stepped on my favorite shoes." She said.

"So what? You have millions of pairs. Just tell your mother to buy you another pair."

"That's not how it works, daddy. Those were Prada shoes." She said, clicking her fingers. "Every kid my age needs more shoes."

"I didn't." he said.

"Well, duh. You're a boy. Trunks also has two pairs of shoes. Nobody cares. This is about me."

"When is it not?" he muttered.

"Oh, come on, daddy." She said, rolling her eyes. "Just because you had no money for shoes when you were young – "

He growled. "I had no extra shoes because I wasn't a little spoiled brat like you are." He said. "And believe me, it was not because my _guardian_ lacked money." He said, closing the door of the GR right in her face. Bulla rolled her eyes and stomped away, angry like never.

Inside, Vegeta was fuming. He had been doing well before being reminded of Frieza. He growled as he punched a bot and it disappeared. He knew it wasn't Bulla's fault. She didn't even know who Frieza was. She knew nothing about his past. But he couldn't help it. He always tried with all his might to stay in the present. To think of his family and the men that considered themselves his friends helped him stay out of that part of him that liked to kill to get his frustrations out of him. He shook his head as memories began to assault him and he punched the gravity button, forcing a lot of weight on himself. He cleaned the sweat from his upper lip and began beating bots and screaming, grunting and performing katas, ignoring the constant burn on his muscles and the way sweat poured down his body like blood, oblivious to the way Bulla had begun to analyze his words.

She quietly entered the house and found her mother reading a book. She sat down next to her.

"Mommy, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, sweetheart. Go ahead."

"Who was daddy's guardian?"

Bulma's eyes widened and she left the book aside. "Oh, Bulla…"

"I mean… I know that daddy comes from outer space, and that he was a prince but his planet got destroyed and then he became a meanie and tried to take over the Earth. But…"

Take over the Earth. Well, that was an interesting way to put it.

"Honey, to tell you the truth, I don't know much about your father's past myself."

"But you have to know something. Come on, mom. I'm a grown girl now."

"It's not about age, Bulla. I…" she sighed. "All I can tell you is that he became a soldier and worked for a very bad man until the man died. Then he began to live with us and he eventually changed his ways."

"Don't you wanna know more about his past, mom?"

"I think there are some things that are better left untouched, sweetie."

She sighed sadly and nodded.

However, later that night, Bulma went over to her daughter's room. It was a good thing that Vegeta was in the GR, because he usually woke up with the faintest of sounds. She pushed the door open quietly and found her teenage daughter lying on the bed with her computer on her lap, smiling at something.

"I thought you were asleep."

Bulla jumped and looked up at her. "Mom! You almost killed me!"

"You'll get over that wound." Bulma said, winking. She walked over to her bed and sat on the edge. "Hey, Bulla. I've been thinking about what you said to me today. Vegeta is really closed about everything, especially his past. And well… I know it's Vegeta's life to tell or not but I think we could really help him a lot."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying, mommy?"

"Heh, if what you think is that I have a time machine in my lab then, yes."

"YOU WHAT?"

"Hey, hey, shhh! Vegeta and Trunks must not know."

"Oh, sorry." She said, covering her mouth.

"What mustn't I know?" Trunks said from the doorway. Both women looked immediately at the young man who was currently leaning against the doorframe, a smirk on his lips. "Tell me or I'll tell dad."

"How dare you try to blackmail me?" Bulma said.

He shrugged. "I'm doing business, mom."

Bulma got up, glaring at him.

"I am your mother and – "

"We were thinking of using mom's time machine to go to the past and find out a bit about dad's childhood." Bulla spit out.

Trunks quirked an eyebrow and looked disapprovingly at his mother. He pushed himself off of the doorframe and walked over to the window to make sure the GR was still on. He wouldn't risk it. He walked back to the door, closed it, and sat on one of Bulla's chairs. He looked at both women with a smirk he had inherited from his father and that had melted Bulma's legs when she was younger. Bulla glared at him and put her computer aside, getting up and walking over to him. He leaned down to be eyelevel with him and poked his forehead. Trunks's smile didn't falter. If anything, it grew bigger.

"Not a word to daddy. Get it, trunktard?"

"Get it, Bullbutt. But… I'm coming with."

Bulma ignored the name-calling and stood between her children. "Hey, hey. It's not as easy as it sounds. We'll have to set some rules first." She said. She glanced at the GR through the window before motioning for them to follow her to her lab. "The machine won't transport our solid bodies, thankfully. If Frieza saw us who knows what would happen. We can't alter whatever happens around. Nobody can see us, and we can trespass solid bodies when we want to and grab them as well. BUT, if we move anything, put anything out of place, or change the overall course of history even in the smallest way, we'll be visible and that'd be horrible." She said. "I learnt that from Future Trunks's visit all those years ago. He affected our timeline but didn't affect his own timeline. However, I strongly believe that the trip to the past simply created another possibility. My machine won't do that because time is better off when it's not tampered with and – "

"Get to the point, mommy." Bulla said, rolling her eyes.

Bulma glared at her. "My point is that we can't alter the other timeline, so we must be only spectators. Here we are." She dialed the code and the door slid open. Bulla and Trunks's eyes opened wide as they saw the big capsule-like machine standing on the back. Bulma walked inside. "I'll leave a note for Vegeta in case he starts looking for us." She said, grabbing a pen and a piece of paper. She smiled as she pasted in on the door and sighed with excitement. "Well boys, ready to go?"

* * *

_What about it? Like it, hate it?_

_What will Bulma, Trunks and Bulla find when they return?_

_Will Vegeta find out?_

__Oh, by the way... I may have confused Bra/Bulla a couple of times. I'll make sure to fix that in the next chappie.

Enjoy!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything :)

* * *

Bulma turned the machine on and it lightened up with a slight purring sound.

"Okay. Listen to me because this is extremely important. Once we land on that timeline, this one is not going to stop. It will continue happening without us. We have to know exactly how much time we are there, so that we can land back ahead." She said.

"Can't we just land at the same exact spot we left?"

"No. That would create _another_ timeline. We have to land back in our timeline at the time our timeline is happening."

"This is giving me a headache." Bulla said.

"Bulla, this is important. It's… two in the morning. If we stay there for five hours, we have to get back at exactly seven in the morning. And not only that: we can't miss even one second. The machine has clocks, so that'll help, but…" she got interrupted as the unmistakable sound of Goku appearing suddenly startled the three of them. "Goku? It's two in the goddamn morning! What on Earth are you doing here?"

He grinned and scratched the back of his head. "Hehe, hi Bulma. Hello, kids."

"Hey, Goku."

"Uhm, listen… We ran out of salt and I wanted my midnight snack, but I've been looking for salt for the past two hours and – "

"Goku, if Vegeta was here he would shout your ears off. You can't just Instant Transmit into somebody's house at two in the morning."

"Sorry!" he said, grinning. "But then why are the three of you awake?" he said, pointing at them.

"Oh, we were just…"

"We wanted to go to daddy's past and see what was it all like." Bulla said excitedly. Trunks and Bulma facepalmed.

"Oh." Goku's silly face turned serious all of a sudden. "I don't know if you should do that, guys. Vegeta's past… I mean, he worked for Frieza. And I fought Frieza, and he's not… he's not someone to mess with. He's not only evil, he's – "

"Frieza? That's daddy's guardian?" Bulla asked.

"Well… I wouldn't call it guardian." Goku said. "Frieza was more like his master."

"Master?" Bulla asked. "As in… master and slave?"

"Well, I wouldn't call it a slave. Vegeta was a soldier, but…"

"In any case, Goku" Bulma said, not wanting him to slip and tell Bulla too much. (Of course, that was stupid, considering she was about to see everything for herself.) "We are not going to alter anything. We'll just be onlookers. Nobody will notice us."

"Bulma, I don't know. It's Vegeta's past we're talking about. It was not all finding dragonballs and fighting dinosaurs and stuff, you know…"

"What if you come with us?" Bulla squealed. "I know you're curious as well."

"Chichi will kill me." Goku said. "Besides, it's Vegeta we're talking about. He'll be angry with me for the rest of my life."

Bulma laughed. "He's already angry with you until hell freezes over." She said.

Goku laughed nervously. "Well… I guess she won't mind a couple of hours without me, huh?"

Trunks sighed. "We better get going now." He said. "The earlier we arrive, the better. If we are lucky, Dad will still be training when we get back."

"Right." Bulma said. She got into the enormous capsule and the three younger people followed her inside.

Various screens were installed around them with numbers, graphics, bars… things that gave Goku a headache. There was a set of buttons next to Bulma and she pressed a red one. The screens began to glow and change. Bulma typed something and the machine began to beep. She continued typing and the three other people inside looked around the capsule. Numbers changed and disappeared. The bars and periods in the graphs changed height, colors, width, length… More beeping sounds spurted into their ears and Bulma continued typing things. She sighed when she was done.

A computerized voice spoke:

'It's 2:37:53 a.m. Present Year. Please type the day, month, year, coordinate, and exact hour in that order, in which you wish to land.'

Bulma sighed. The hour was glowing next to her, along with the year and coordinates. "Vegeta mentioned once that Frieza's Planet number 1 was located in the 122.111.012 South. I think that would be a good place to start. And we want to land…" she made calculations of the year and typed everything. "Ready?"

"Yeah!" they said excitedly.

'Preparing to leave in 3… 2… 1…'

Everything became dark suddenly, and their surroundings began to morph. They found themselves surrounded by cold. Bulla began trembling immediately. They all looked up when they saw it: Frieza's enormous base. White and pink. Impressive technology. They walked out of the capsule as the computerized voice spoke the exact time and place. Bulma took a mental note of the time: 2:38:12. She began walking up to it.

"It will take a lot to find dad." Trunks said.

"No. I think I can feel his energy. It's extremely weak compared to the one in our timeline, but it's there. Inside the castle." He said.

"Well, then lead the way." Bulma said, excited about seeing Vegeta. As they began to walk, she began to talk. "Okay. If my calculations are correct, Vegeta should be around six."

"Sixteen?" Bulla asked, confused.

"No. Six. Six years old." Bulma said.

"Six? Why is he here?"

"Vegeta-sei got destroyed when he was five."

"And he became a soldier when he was five?" She yelled, surprised. "That's sooo wrong on sooo many levels!"

"It's not that bad." Goku said. "Saiyans are bred for battle so I guess he was kinda used to it. I'm sure King Vegeta trained him since he was able to walk." Goku said.

"I know. But six?"

"Dad started training me at that age." Trunks said.

They finally arrived at the fortress and trespassed the closed front door. It was quiet and dark. The halls were intermittently illuminated by dim lightbulbs that gave an eerie atmosphere. Their footsteps were the only thing sounding in the first floor of the enormous infrastructure they were currently observing. Bulla absentmindedly linked her arm around Trunks's as she stared wide-eyed at everything.

"It's almost three in the morning in this planet. Considering Frieza had to find a planet that could sustain life, this planet also has a sun, maybe more. It means there is daytime and nighttime and people are probably asleep right now." Bulma said.

"Vegeta is awake." Goku said. "I can sense him. He's up high. Maybe third, or fourth floor."

He grabbed Bulma and Trunks grabbed Bulla as they began to fly upwards, going right through the floors and ceilings, until they heard a muffled voice. It was pitched, like a little kid. Goku landed, still amazed. They just had to think if they wanted to be solid or not in order to be so. The hall they had landed in was completely dark, except for a light coming from around the corner. They walked over there and the voices became clear.

"I told you I'm alright." The childlike voice said.

"Vegeta…" a teenager voice said, filled with worry. Goku recognized it immediately. As they finally reached the corner, he found out his suspicions were right. There was a tiny version of Vegeta, with flame-like hair and cute bangs, talking to a shorter and younger version of Goku's older brother, Radditz. Bulma gasped as she saw both of them. One of them had kidnapped Gohan and shared the blame of Goku's death with Piccolo. The other one was her husband in the body of a tiny six-year-old. But what was off was _how_ he was. He had a swollen right cheek, and the parts of his body that were visible – his neck, arms and part of his chest – were covered in welts and bruises. Bulla almost ran up to him to hug him. Her eyes watered as the little kid glared up at the other teenager.

"I don't need your pity, Radditz."

"Why… why did he do it this time?"

Vegeta shrugged. "You were on a mission, Nappa was running some errand for Ginyu, and Frieza was bored." He said, his voice filled with hatred. "Now leave me alone."

Radditz swallowed. "If you want to talk about it…"

"Do I look like some weak whore? If you want somebody bitching around go to Planet 142. I heard Frieza brought a new whore cargo some days ago." He said, walking away. Radditz tried to follow him. "Don't follow me! I want to be alone!"

He passed beside them. His posture hadn't changed. Bulla almost burst into tears when she realized he barely passed her knee. They began following him and realized that the lights of the hallway turned on as Vegeta passed. They were automatic. Suddenly, they heard footsteps behind them. Bulla was the first to turn. Goku, Bulma and Trunks followed suit.

"Oh my God! _What_ is that?"

"That's Frieza." Goku said.

"THAT is Frieza?" She gasped.

But Vegeta just stopped and rolled his eyes. "I thought I told you not to – " he turned around and saw the lizard. His eyes widened and his face became white. "M-m-master F-Frieza." He whispered. It broke the women's hearts to see so much fear in the child. He started quivering as the lizard slowly stepped up to him.

"My, my, Vegeta." He purred. "It's so late. Couldn't sleep?"

"I – I… I was…" his voice was trembling. He was looking at the floor trying to think of something.

"If you feel so eager and full of energy, you could've just told me, my little monkey. I can give you another training session. I would've thought that, since you were crying so much and begging me to stop, you were tired." He said.

Vegeta's eyebrows furrowed at the prospect of another training session with Frieza. He swallowed. "I was going to my room."

The lizard chuckled and approached him. He stopped right in front of Vegeta, and the small kid could smell his breath and feel the cold radiating off of him. "Are you sure? I am available right now."

"I… was going to sleep, m-master. If you don't mind."

Frieza tsked-tsked and tilted Vegeta's head up with his finger. Vegeta flinched. He swallowed and Frieza looked into his eyes.

"Maybe I should accompany you to your room." He said.

"No… I – "

"No? Are you telling me no, monkey?"

Vegeta's eyes widened even more. "N-no. I – I didn't… I mean…"

There was no way around it. If he said no, he'd be punished. If he said yes, he'd be punished. And if Frieza entered his room and saw how singed it was from all of Vegeta's tantrums... he didn't want to think about that one. He remained quiet and looked down again. His cruel master tilted his head up again, this time with the tip of his tail. Vegeta hated that tail, especially so close to his neck. He trembled even more and looked into Frieza's red eyes.

"Your room is actually my room. I own everything around here including you. Is that understood?"

"Y-yes, Master."

There was a communal gasp. Nobody expected Vegeta to accept that Frieza _owned _him.

"Maybe I should teach you a lesson."

"But-but I… I didn't… I…" he looked pleadingly at Frieza, but the lizard chuckled and crossed his arms.

"Go to your room while I think of a fitting punishment for you. I'll be there in a second." He said cruelly, walking away. Vegeta watched him leave before breaking down. He clenched his tiny fists and put them over his eyes as tears streamed down. He began sobbing and his body shook badly. He almost hyperventilated as hatred, rage, sadness and desperation settled in his cute little features. He even thought about not going to his room, hiding in Radditz's room… tying to go out of the base and hide behind some bushes. But decided against everything. It would be healthier for him to face it. If he hurried, perhaps he could clean around his room a bit.

"It's not fair…" he whispered. "It's not fair. I didn't do anything." He began walking away. "Please, please, please." He whispered. "Don't let him hurt me anymore." He whispered, sobbing.

As he walked away, Goku sighed and turned to Bulma. She was cleaning her tears with the back of her hand. Bulla was doing the same.

"I can't believe it." The younger woman said. "He's only six."

"Come on." Trunks said. "Let's follow him."

They watched as Vegeta entered his room and followed him inside. The prince looked around, still sobbing. The walls were singed and cracked, and the floor had spots of various substances, including blood. There was nothing in there apart from a rock-hard bed covered in a thin, ratty blanket. There was no pillow. One automatic light bulb was on the ceiling and there was a pair of doors that lead to his closet, which had a few spandex suits. He trembled badly and climbed on his bed. He backed off into the corner and hugged his legs, resting his forehead against his knees, crying.

"I want to hug him." Bulla said. "He's so alone."

"I know, but this already happened, Bulla. He's with us now." Bulma said, smiling, although her eyes were extremely wet.

Vegeta's head shot up as the door slid open. Frieza stood there, smiling. His harnds were behind his back, and Vegeta cried harder. He hugged his legs tighter.

"My, my… You are crying again? What a pathetic little ape you are. What would King Vegeta say if he saw you like this? I'm sure he wouldn't regret his decision of handing you over to me, hmmm?" he said cruelly, knowing how Vegeta was still touchy about that. Vegeta tried to stop crying, but couldn't. "Oh well, I guess it's a good thing Vegeta-sei no longer exists. What would they say if they saw that you are such a weak kid?"

Bulma sighed. It was not a secret that one of Frieza's most horrible tortures was the psychological. It could be seen in how Vegeta acted daily.

"I'm not weak." He muttered between sobs.

"Oh?" Frieza said. "Why don't you come here and show me how strong you are?"

Vegeta looked away. Frieza chuckled and finally revealed what he was carrying behind his back. It was a whip. Vegeta stared at the dreaded coiled tool with a mixture of resignation and depression. "Do try to be silent this time, Vegeta. The soldiers are sleeping."

Vegeta had finally stopped crying. He just stared blankly at Frieza, with his known scowl adorning his little face. Frieza smiled and uncoiled the whip with a crack. The sound made everyone jump, including Vegeta. He swallowed. Frieza, however, decided to make a prequel. His tail shot out and struck the small kid in the side of his head, knocking him off of the bed and onto the ground. Vegeta, with the side of his head now bleeding, backed off until his back hit the wall. He hit him once more in the stomach. He coughed and gasped in pain, his tiny arms wrapping around his midsection. Frieza laughed and wrapped his tail around Vegeta's neck. The bruises around it hurt a lot when he squeezed and lifted him off of the ground. He gasped desperately as the tail almost cut his circulation.

"Ooh, my little monkey. I always miss you so much when you leave." He pulled his arm back, and struck. Vegeta gasped and tried not to scream as his belly was now bleeding. "I like how much you cry." Swish-crack. "It reminds me how your father wanted to get rid of you so badly." Swish-crack. "A poor little prince who got disowned by his own father." Swish-crack. "You lost your kingdom." Swish-crack. "Your family." Swish-crack. "Because you are weak."

Vegeta couldn't hold it this time. He uttered a slight cry of pain.

"No!" Bulla shouted suddenly. "We have to stop it!"

Trunks grabbed her wrists and looked at her. "Hey, hey." He said, looking into her tearstained face. "We can't affect the timeline. I think we should move out and wait until Frieza leaves the room."

Goku nodded and turned to Bulma. She was crying, tears spilling down her cheeks as she watched. Frieza had not stopped. If only, his blows were becoming stronger. Vegeta was crying now, unable to stop his whimpers and cries. He was bleeding all over, his clothes practically nonexistent, and he was trembling badly. He was clutching Frieza's tail, trying to pry it off his neck, although he was lacking strength with every blow, and Frieza was still swishing his whip. Goku grabbed Bulma's elbow and pulled her away as Trunks held his sister close while they crossed the wall. They left the room, but the horrible sounds of the whip and Vegeta's whimpers and moans of pain, along with Frieza's insults still reached their ears.

Bulla sat on the floor at the other side of the hall, pressing her back against it. Goku sighed and sat beside her.

"Hey, it's alright. It already happened."

"That's what makes it worse. The fact that Daddy had to go through it."

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all." Trunks sighed, sitting in front of them.

"He's a monster." Bulla whispered. "He's no guardian…"

"No." Bulma said. "He's a tyrant."

* * *

Vegeta finally passed out and Frieza released him. The bloodied child landed on the floor on a puddle of his own blood, trembling and sweating. The tyrant chuckled, coiled the whip and turned to walk out of the room, oblivious of how four people were glaring deathly at him.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Thank you so much for the reviews!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything. Not even Vegeta, regretfully.

* * *

Bulla waited until Frieza rounded de corner before she burst into the room. Trunks followed her, trying to stop her, but Bulla's scream almost made their ears bleed. Goku and Bulma ran after them.

"Oh my God…" Bulma muttered.

"Man…" Goku said.

Vegeta was unconscious, but his body was still trembling and his bangs stuck to his forehead from the way he was sweating. He was almost naked, the bloodied rags hanging off of his bleeding, tiny frame. He was lying on a puddle of his own blood, which was still growing. Bulla kneeled before him and was about to touch him, but Trunks held her back.

"Hey! What are you doing? You can't touch him."

"We can't just leave him here. He'll bleed out!"

"No. He survives." Bulma said. "Remember this already happened, Bulla."

Bulla sniffed and sat back on her ankles. A long minute passed before Vegeta groaned, startling everyone. He hissed as he tried to move and his breathing came out quivery and ragged. His entire body tensed as pain ran up and down his tiny frame and he moaned. He slowly opened his eyes, but he could barely open them halfway. He sat up slowly, hissing in pain, and took a while to gain his breath. He looked down at his destroyed body and got up slowly. His knees, however, buckled under him and he fell on his hands and knees. Clenching one eye and still gasping, the tiny prince hung his head and tried with all his might not to cry. His body was hurting so bad… The room around him seemed to start spinning and he heaved. There was nothing in his stomach, though, so nothing came out of his mouth. His little tail, which was also welted and bleeding, twitched as he opted to crawl. Luckily, nobody was watching him… as far as he was concerned. He sweated even more as he opened his closet door and reached inside. He sat back on his ankles as his trembling hands held his scouter. He put it on and pressed a button.

Two sleepy male voices came in.

"V…geta?"

Vegeta's weak, trembling voice spoke:

"R-Radditz… N-N-Nappa. C-come t-to my r-room now."

Even weak and in pain, he managed to sound bossy.

"We'll be right there." The older-sounding voice spoke.

That being said, he fell on his side, conscious but unable to move.

Less than a minute later, two sayians burst into the room. They looked around and swallowed. Radditz sighed deeply and picked the child off of the floor, ignoring his moan of pain.

"A-about… t-time." Vegeta forced out.

The group from the future noticed that Nappa was carrying a small bag on his left hand. Apparently, this had happened before, although that was no surprise.

Radditz laid the broken prince on the bed.

"I should've accompanied you back to your room." He said.

"What good would it have done?" Nappa said, opening the bag. "Frieza would've done it anyway."

Vegeta didn't say anything, he just closed his eyes.

"Why is he so hurt, anyway?" Trunks asked. "He's a kid but he's way stronger than that."

"Frieza beat him before, remember? He was already hurt. He could have bruised ribs or something. Besides he can be very tired by now." Bulma said.

"He is. He fell asleep." Goku said.

"He fell asleep." Radditz repeated as he pulled the rags off of the tiny body. "Frieza really did a work on him this morning. He was unconscious until I came back. That bastard won't let him use the tanks. It's catching up with him."

Nappa took out a soft towel and handed it over to Radditz. The younger man began to pass it across the child's body, cleaning his injuries.

"I know." The bald man said. "The lack of food is not helping either. Frieza won't let him eat as much as he should."

"And the training sessions with Zarbon…" Radditz said. "We should request a mission. A few days away will help a bit."

"I don't know." Nappa said, handing over some kind of substance. "Remember what happened a week ago? Frieza didn't give us enough time and Vegeta ended up paying for it."

Radditz winced and nodded. He could remember it clearly. Frieza's punishments were the cruelest of all, compared to the training sessions and the times when he was just bored or angry and let it out on the kid. However, most of the times Frieza would just find the slightest flaw, or force the prince to make a mistake just so that he could beat him up and cause him pain and agony in the most horrible ways, knowing that the prince would blame himself in the end. Both adults knew that Vegeta cried when he was alone. But really, they couldn't blame him. Life at Frieza's ship was bad, but for Vegeta it was plain horrible. A nightmare in itself. They were actually extremely proud of the prince's will.

When he finished applying the strange substance, he dressed the prince in a new, clean spandex he found in his closet.

"That'll do for now." Nappa said. "Let's head back."

The two adult saiyans left the room.

Goku sighed as he stared at the sleeping prince. "I think we should head back as well."

All of them agreed, and began heading back. What nobody expected was the fact that Vegeta let out a scream. Not too loud, but a scream nonetheless. Everyone turned around, Goku and Trunks with a blast in their hands. But it turned out Vegeta was only having a nightmare. He was thrashing, the bed getting drenched in blood and sweat as his wounds reopened. It was Bulma who hurried over to his bed, mother instincts kicking in. Goku went behind her, but as he tried to grab her wrist, Trunks also thrust forward and both ended up on the ground. Unfortunately, Goku's hand held Bulma's dress to, futilely, keep himelf from falling. In time, Bulma grabbed Vegeta's old blanket and it fell from the prince's body. The prince turned around and curled into a ball to try and keep the heat in his body.

Bulma looked at the blanket in her hand with wide eyes. She looked back at Goku and Trunks and then tried to look up at Bulla. Unfortunately, she didn't seem to be there. Bulma hit the ground with her open palm, trying to go through it. All she got was a lance of pain up her wrist.

"Oh… my… God."

"Where's Bulla?" Goku asked.

"We can't see her." Bulma said. "We're visible in this timeline now. We… we kind of make part of it now, so we can't see her."

"Oh, man…" Goku said. "We screwed it up."

Bulla suddenly materialized next to them, holding on to Trunks.

"Bulla, what the hell are you doing?" Trunks demanded. "You should've stayed invisible."

"I just thought…"

"Doesn't matter." Bulma said quietly. "We better not wake him up and leave before anyone notices us."

"Right." Goku said.

"Why don't you just IT us outside?" Bulla asked.

"I need to detect a source of energy. But there's nobody outside." Goku said. "C'mon."

They got up and quietly began sneaking outside. Unfortunately, Vegeta never slept too heavily. He opened his eyes slowly and swallowed his groans. He suddenly shot up and prepared two ki blasts in each of his hands as he saw the people inside his room.

"Who are you?" he screamed.

"Uhm… Hi, Vegeta." Bulla said softly.

"How do you know my name? Did Frieza send you? I didn't do anything!" he screamed, his eyes wide.

"No, no." Bulma spoke. "We're not going to hurt you."

"Then what are you doing here? Get out of my room!"

"Yeah, we're on it." Goku said. "Bye."

Vegeta grunted and relaxed when he realized they had probably just got lost. He began lying down again when the door opened, revealing a pair of soldiers who were walking and talking. They suddenly stopped in front of the prince's room, looking oddly at the four people attempting to get out. Or so it seemed.

"Why is this door open?" One of them demanded.

"What tricks are you pulling now, monkey?"

Vegeta arched an eyebrow. "Are you two stupid? Can't you – "

"Wait." Bulma said. "I think they can't see us."

"How come?" Trunks said. "You touched the blanket, Goku touched you, and I touched Goku."

"Uhm… Hey, can you see us?"

"Well, he really _is_ insane. Can't even finish your own sentences, kid?"

"He looks confused." The second soldier said. "His mind is too slow."

"Can't expect anything else from a monkey." The other soldier laughed.

"SHUT UP!" Vegeta snapped. "Get out here now or I'll rip you stomachs open and strangle you with your own intestines!"

The group from the future looked astonished as they heard the tiny prince.

"Well, we gotta go anyway." The soldier said.

"Yeah. We better tell Frieza that his little toy ruined the door."

"I did not!" Vegeta said. "You are the fools who can't even comprehend the technology the door operates with."

The two soldiers looked angry. Bulla, who was closer to the door, stepped back. The door slid back closed.

Vegeta swallowed and looked at all of them.

"What the hell is the deal with all of you?"

"Uh… uhm… we'll you see… we come from – " Goku started.

"From very far away." Bulma said. "But it seems that you're the only one that can see us."

"No shit." He said. "Why is that?"

"Well… you see" Bulma said. "We can become invisible sometimes, unless we touch something. Up until now, we thought that if we touched one single thing, everyone would be able to see us, but I seems that, since we touched your blanket, only you can see us, or hear us. Or touch us, for that matter." She said.

"Why were you here? Why did you enter my room? And how long have you been here?"

"Uhm… not too long. We just appeared here a few minutes ago." Trunks lied.

"Then why did you touch my blanket?"

"It was an accident. Actually kind of funny…" Bulma said, chuckling.

"I don't care. If you didn't appear here deliberately, how did you know my name?"

"Excuse me?" Bulma said, wide eyed. Oh, crap.

"My name. You know my name, but you say you just got here by accident."

"Oh… well, you see…"

At that moment, however, something began to beep. Vegeta sighed as he turned to look at the discarded scouter lying on a drying puddle of blood. He got up from the bed, wincing just a little bit and walked over to it. He picked it up and pressed the button.

'_Soldiers, attention. Soldiers, attention' _a female voice spoke. _'There will be a meeting at 0981 hours. Don't be late. I repeat. Meeting at 0981 hours. Don't be late.'_

Vegeta sighed and turned to look at them.

"Perhaps it's true what they say. I am insane." He muttered. "Well, get lost. Go back to wherever it is you come from."

"Right." Goku said. "Then, have a good day."

Vegeta glared at him. "Yeah. I see you really haven't been here long." He rummaged through his closet and took out a very small armor. He then looked at them. "Well? What are you waiting for? A good-bye party?"

They snapped out of their trance and headed outside. Once they were gone and the door closed behind them, Vegeta fell on his knees and held his head. He was feeling extremely weak and light-headed. He swallowed and took a deep breath. He really needed food and sleep. He looked back at the clock on the floor. 0969. He still had some time. He dragged himself over to his bed, figuring that Nappa and Radditz would come and get him when they were ready. He lied down and closed his eyes again.

Meanwhile, the group began walking outside. They found a set of stairs and climbed down until they reached the first floor. They found the sun was coming up, but it was still extremely cold. They crossed the front hall and stepped outside. The sight that greeted them, though, was not pleasant at all. The Time Machine was expelling smoke, the windows around it broken and cracked and the screens turned off. Bulma ran up to it with a horrified face. She coughed up when she reached the smoke.

"What happened?" Bulla gasped.

"I have no idea." Bulma said. "I… I don't know!"

"Could it have been a soldier?" Trunks asked, pressing the start button in vain.

"I don't know. If they can't see us I highly doubt they can see the machine."

"Maybe there was a glitch in it…" Trunks said. "Perhaps it couldn't support having us ona semi-physical plane."

"I didn't think of that one." Bulma muttered. "But I didn't think it would just explode."

"Maybe it couldn't handle two timelines at the same time." Bulla said.

Bulma put her hand on her forehead and closed her eyes shut.

"What are we going to do now?" Bulla said.

"Well, there's one thing we could do." Bulma answered, looking up. "Frieza has impressive technology, right? Maybe he has enough things to fix the machine up."

"But we can't touch them." Goku said. "We can't let everybody see us."

"No." Trunks said. "But my dad can. I mean, if we ask him to get it for us."

"Still, I don't know how much time it'll take for me to fix it. And I doubt Vegeta will be willing to help us."

"We can bring him along with us." Bulla said.

"No, we can't. We can't mix up two timelines, Bulla."

"We already did. He already saw his future wife and children. This timeline has already been ruined and it will continue to be different." She said.

"No. I'm sure that by the time he gets to Earth, he'd already have forgotten our faces. It isn't too late to leave. We just have to keep away from him until the machine is ready." Trunks said.

"But that might take days." Bulma admitted. "And we need food and other stuff. I think it won't hurt to ask Vegeta for soe help. However, what I meant by mixing timelines up was taking something away from one permanently. Things must always return to their timeline sooner or later. Who knows what'd happen if we don't respect that."

"I doubt he'll help us without getting something in reward." Bulla said.

"Let's just ask him and see how it goes." Bulma said.

"Right. Then let's see what's missing." Trunks said.

* * *

_Good? Bad? Oh-please-continue? _

_Don't forget to review and keep in touch with the story!_


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: (Disclaimer):** I don't own anything! Thanks for the reviews

* * *

Vegeta was walking down the hall followed by Nappa and Radditz. He was wearing a long-sleeved, long-legged black spandex, along with his Royal armor and white gloves and boots. His tail was securely wrapped around his waist, although that hurt terribly. Radditz shot glances at his prince once in a while. There was a slight limp in his step, but it could only be noticeable if one looked very closely. They were walking down the hall, just in time for the meeting, when Vegeta stopped suddenly and looked up, his tiny face confused and somewhat annoyed.

"Hey, Vegeta." Goku said. "Uh… I suppose you remember me from earlier. Hey, uhm, it turns out we can't get back and – "

"Prince Vegeta?" Nappa asked. He usually called him by his name, except when they were in public. When people were looking, they used his title. "Something wrong?"

"No." he said, sidestepping the other man. "Let's hurry before Frieza has our heads."

"Okay. So the other two can't see me or hear me. I think I'll just go ahead and talk. You don't have to answer, just listen." Goku said. Vegeta's left eyebrow began to twitch. "So we came here because our machine brought us, but it kinda sorta stopped working all of a sudden and we were wondering if you could get some things for us so that we can repair it."

"You're getting on my nerves." Vegeta muttered.

"Huh?" Nappa said. "Did you say something?"

"No."

"I know I shouldn't ask so bluntly but…" he looked up just in time to see the enormous door and all the soldiers getting inside. "Wow… This sure is a big place."

He followed the prince and his minions inside. The enormous room that followed was slowly filling up with soldiers of all kinds and forms, all of them dressed in a spandex suit and an armor, their eye covered by a scouter. Frieza gave his back to them, sitting on his hover chair, his tail hanging off of the side, waving slowly. Zarbon and Dodoria stood at his sides, their arms crossed above their chests as they surveyed the soldiers. Vegeta, Nappa and Radditz stood at the front, obliviously followed by Goku, who has seeing everything with amusement and awe. Zabon pressed a button on his scouter.

"It's 0982. Close the doors." He said. A humanoid guard pressed a button and the doors slid closed. Frieza turned around slowly.

Every soldier, hastily, bowed down. "Master Frieza, sir!"

Frieza smiled. "Soldiers. I am glad to see that all of you made it on time. The information I am about to give is of extreme importance and – "

"Hey, Vegeta." Goku whispered, although he didn't have to.

"Shut up." Vegeta said between his teeth.

"It's important. Just listen."

Vegeta glared at him. "You're gonna get me in trouble, clown."

"Prince Vegeta?" Frieza said slowly. "Any reason why you are not paying attention? Is the information too boring for you?"

Vegeta visibly flinched and shook his head. "N-no, Master Frieza! I was paying attention."

Various soldiers snickered and Vegeta's face burned with humiliation. Goku couldn't help but notice how Vegeta was the only little child in the army.

"I surely hope so. You certainly know better than that, don't you? This is your first call. Next time I'll have to teach you a lesson."

"Yes, Lord Frieza. I'm sorry I interrupted."

"As I was saying – "

"Hey, I really don't want to get you in trouble." Goku said. "So, listen. Me and my friends are outside. As soon as this is over, would you please meet us there? There's important information we have to share with you."

Vegeta nodded slightly. That being said, Goku made his way out, taking advantage of the soldier that conveniently was walking out to inspect the halls out of Zarbon's order.

* * *

**PRESENT.**

Vegeta knew something was wrong the moment he stepped out of the GR.

For one thing, he couldn't sense his family's energy anywhere. But, what was worse, he couldn't sense Kakkarot's energy anywhere. He frowned as he dried his neck and chest and entered the compound. It was awfully quiet, even if it was 3:30 in the morning. He could've been able to hear their breathing. He raised his ki, preparing to attack if necessary.

"Is there something wrong with my ki?" he asked quietly. "Why can't I sense any of them? But I can still sense Goten and Gohan…"

He walked upstairs. The beds were empty, but looked slept on. Something had woken them up. He smelled the air, but could only sense his family's scents. He sighed and went downstairs, to Bulma's lab. His nose scrunched up and he showed his canines as Goku's scent hit him full force. As he approached the door, he noticed the little post-it. With an annoyed growled, he snatched it from the door and smelled it. Bulma.

'_Honey, me and the kids went out for a little adventure we had in mind. Don't try to sense us; we kinda went to a different dimension or something. We won't be in trouble. Though. Trunks is with us! We'll be back home in a few hours! Get some rest and there's food in the fridge._

_Love you, B.'_

Vegeta growled and crumpled the paper in his fist.

"Blasted woman."

However, he was not completely calm. Something smelled like trouble. He went upstairs to take a quick bath. He changed into a pair of black pants and a white v-neck shirt and flew immediately over to Mount Paozu. Surely Goten would know of Trunks's plans. He landed some minutes later on the entrance of the tiny house and knocked. He sensed Chichi's ki spiking up as she woke up rudely from the ring and walked downstairs sloppily. What was waiting for her at her entrance worsened her mood.

"Vegeta?" she said. "What the hell are you doing here? It's 4 in the goddamn morning and it's Sunday!"

"I know that, woman." He answered. "I came here to ask you if you have any idea as to where your husband might be."

"Goku? Now that you mention it… I thought he was sparring with you."

"He's not. He went to my house not too long ago but left. I can't sense him or my mate anywhere." He said. "My children seem to have disappeared as well."

Chichi sighed and yawned. "What do you want me to do, Vegeta?"

"Call your son."

"He's asleep, Vegeta. Go away, get some rest and we'll see if they – "

"GOTEN!" he shouted. "Goten, come downstairs NOW!"

"Who do you think you are, you stupid ape?"

Goten came running down the stairs, wearing a pair of boxers and a white, sleeveless shirt. His hair was disheveled and his eyes, although wide and attentive, were red and sleepy. He ran up to the entrance and gave a quick check to his mom. She was alright. He then turned to Vegeta. The full-blooded man stood there, scowling, his arms crossed and his flame-like hair being blown gently by the morning wind. Goten looked at him with an extremely confused face and swallowed, his sleepy mind still turning wheels. He finally snapped out of it and cleared his throat.

"Uhm… Hi, Vegeta."

"Kid." He said, nodding his head.

"What's up?"

"As much as I'd like to tell you about my life, Goten, I am here upon more important matters. Tell me, boy. Where is your father?"

Goten immediately realized it. He couldn't sense Goky anywhere. "I can't sense him."

"What about my mate? My children?"

He looked for their ki, but couldn't find it anywhere. He began to panic.

"I can't feel them either. What's going on, Vegeta?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out. Bulma left a note saying they were leaving for some sort of adventure, and that I shouldn't try to sense them, but knowing how she is a trouble-magnet, I'd say I should worry." He said.

"Uhm… Right." Goten said. "If my dad is with them, then there's nothing to worry about. Why don't you go get some sleep?"

"No. You're coming with me. We'll get Gohan to figure this out. I have a bad feeling about this."

"What? But it's four in the morning, Vegeta!" Goten said. "I'm sleeping. Can't you wait a few hours?"

"No. I'll at least grant you some dignity. Go get dressed, I'll wait here. If you don't I'll drag you over there by the ear."

Goten pouted and sighed, going upstairs. Vegeta glared at Chichi and she rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. I'm going back to sleep."

* * *

"That is all. You can go." Frieza said.

Vegeta sighed in relief and began walking away, his companions flanking him. He was tempted to ignore the freaks that were waiting for him outside, but he knew they'd just keep bugging him. He sighed.

"Go ahead. I'll catch up."

"Are you sure?" Nappa asked. "We were going to train."

"I'm sure, Nappa. There's something I need to see."

"Do you want us to come with you?" Radditz asked.

"I can take care of myself." He said. "See you later."

He began walking away. Nappa and Radditz stared at him, worried, until he rounded the corner and was out of sight.

The tiny prince left the compound and looked behind him to see if there was anyone following him. There was nobody, so he walked up to where the four strange creatures were fidgeting around a much damaged machine. He stopped before them with his little arms crossed and his tail wrapped tightly around his waist. He looked up at them and cleared his throat. They turned to look at him. He briefly wondered if they were a family.

"Well? What did you want to tell me?" he demanded.

"Uhm… We're sorry if we interrupted something." Bulma started.

"Shut up. I'm not here to chit-chat. I've got things to do, you know."

'That's Vegeta, alright.' Bulma thought. "You see, our machine broke down somehow. We'll need to repair it."

"And? I don't know anything about technology."

Bulma knew that. Vegeta had never had any particular interest in technology whatsoever; even though he was smart enough to learn almost everything in a two-day time. She smiled a little.

"I know that." She said softly.

"What do you mean you know that?" he exclaimed. "Are you saying that because I'm a Saiyan? Is that it?" he demanded, his little hands glowing with ki.

"No! No, that's not what I meant at all! It's just… uhm, you're a kid. I didn't think a kid could know much about technology." She said, raising her hands to show she was harmless.

He calmed down, but his body was still tense. He glared at them. "Then what do you want me to do?"

"Well… You see, you're the only one able to see us, but if we touch something else then everyone will be able to see us and that'd be terrible. So we were wondering if you could just… uhm… grab some stuff from Frieza's technological departments so that we can repair our machine and leave." Bulma explained.

Vegeta closed his eyes. "Let me get this straight. You are a group of freaks that nobody can see, or hear, but me. You come from far away, but somehow your machine got destroyed and you want ME, to _steal_ from Frieza, so that you can fix it up and leave. Is that it?"

"Well… that's one way to put it." Trunks said.

"This is preposterous." He said, turning away.

"Wait, Vegeta!" Goku called. "You can't just leave us here."

"Why not?" he said, stopping but not turning around.

"B-because if we don't leave soon everything you know will collapse. Time and space will get destroyed!" Trunks answered.

Vegeta turned back around. "I couldn't count with my fingers the times I've heard people saying that same thing when I'm purging their planet. And guess what: Time and space still exist and I'm still stuck here with Frieza. Besides, let time and space die, explode and collapse. Anything is better than being here with Frieza." He said.

Bulla sighed. "Vegeta, if you do this for us… we'll take you with us."

"Bulla!" Bulma and Trunks exclaimed.

Vegeta glared at her. "Why should I trust you? As far as I am concerned, if anything goes wrong Frieza will only be able to see me, and it would be me who'd get into trouble."

"We wouldn't betray you." Bulla said.

Bulma sighed. "We can't promise him that."

Vegeta's eyes seemed to darken. "I knew it."

"No, wait!" Trunks said. "We can, mom. We can promise him that. We can take you."

Vegeta's eyebrows furrowed. "I don't believe you. Why did she say that I can't go?"

"We'll talk her into it." Bulla said, winking. "Just ignore her."

"BULLA! How dare you?" Bulma screamed.

"Besides" Vegeta cut into Bulma's rant, "there's no way of escaping Lord Frieza. He will always find you, anywhere. Believe me, I've tried."

An almost imperceptible shudder went down his spine and he closed his eyes momentarily. Memories that he wished more than anything that he could forget, resurfaced suddenly and he swallowed.

"But we can." Bulla said. "He can't see us so he has no way of knowing that we left."

"Yes, but he can see me. And he'll know if I left. Frieza always finds what he's looking for."

Bulla felt like an icy hand was gripping her heart. She walked up to him and knelt before him. Vegeta growled and crouched down in a defensive stance.

"Vegeta, where we're going, Frieza can't follow. Once you leave, you'll never hear of him again and he'll never hear of you. It won't matter if he searches the entire Universe, you'll be safe." She assured. "Just trust us in this one."

"Why would I trust a group of freaks?"

"Because you have no other way of escaping. Do you really want to stay here for Kami-knows how many more years?"

Vegeta looked down and frowned. "Fine. I'll get your things. But if anything goes wrong, I'll give out your secret."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:**Thanks for the reviews, guys!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything.

* * *

Gohan's eyes shot open when he sensed two familiar kis approaching his house. He sat up, waking Videl in the process. The woman groaned and turned to look at him.

"What are you doing, Gohan?"

"I'm sensing someone."

Videl's eyes shot open. "Who? Someone bad?"

"No. It's Vegeta and my brother. But I don't know – " the bell rang. He quickly got up and put on a pair of sweatpants and a black, long-sleeved threadbare shirt. Worried that something might be wrong, he jogged down the stairs and up to the door. All but wrenching it open, Gohan was prepared to see the scared face of his little brother and the angry but desperate face of Vegeta upon carrying bad news. He found quite the opposite. His brother was sleepy and Vegeta seemed extremely annoyed. "Uhm… Hello?"

"Gohan." Vegeta grunted.

"Good morning… to you." He said, a bit confused. "What's going on?"

"Vegeta panicked." Goten murmured.

Vegeta glared at him. "Shut it, you little insect." He turned back to look at Gohan. "Tell me, Gohan. Where is your father?"

Gohan quirked an eyebrow. "I… suppose he's at Mount Paozu with mom."

"Gohan, for a smartass, you're not much of an analytic guy. Goten lives with your Dad and he's here. Doesn't that tell you that I, perhaps, already went looking for Kakkarot at his house?" Vegeta growled.

Gohan rubbed his eye. "Yeah… I guess so." He sighed. "Is there something wrong with your senses? My Dad's easy to pick up… He…" Gohan stopped abruptly as he realized he couldn't sense Goku. "Wait." He searched harder, but couldn't bring himself to feel it. He should've been able to do so easily, even if his father was trying to hide. "I – I can't sense him."

"Thank heavens you finally realized." Vegeta growled. "Now, what about Bulma? Trunks? Bulla?"

Gohan searched for a bit, and then shook his head. "What's going on?"

"Oh, I know perfectly well where they are. I just enjoy visiting you at 5 in the morning to test how your ki-sensing abilities are doing." Vegeta said sarcastically.

Gohan rubbed his forehead. "What do you suppose we do? If my dad and Trunks are with them then there's nothing to worry about, Vegeta."

Vegeta was beyond frustrated now. "So Kakkarot suddenly disappearing doesn't worry anyone?" he growled. "Whatever. I only want to find my wife and my children and you two are going to help me or I'll…"

"Yeah, we get it." Gohan said. He sighed. "Let me go grab my jacket and we'll go to Dende's Lookout. Perhaps he knows something."

"Right. Hurry."

* * *

**PAST.**

"Deal." Goku said.

"And one more thing." The tiny prince said. "Nappa and Radditz should be able to see you as well."

"Oh, no." Bulma said. "We can't let that happen."

"Then deal's over." Vegeta said.

"Why do you want them to see us?" Trunks asked.

Vegeta looked at the floor. He didn't want to admit it, but he liked to consult his decisions with his companions. The last word was always his, of course. At first, he always took decisions by himself, but over time, he found out that Frieza's punishments over a wrong decision were nothing to look out for. So, he began to take decisions with the help of Nappa and Radditz. Nappa might have been a brainless oaf and Radditz just a thirdclass idiot, but they were older than him and perhaps a bit more reasonable at times. Besides, it would be less risky for him if Nappa and Radditz also stole things to repair the machine. He frowned and looked up at them, growling.

"Why don't you want them to see you?"

Goku swallowed. Vegeta might still be young but he still resembled Trunks… or Trunks resembled him, whatever. Besides, Radditz and Goku were very alike, and it was possible that Radditz had had a chance of seeing him before he went to Earth, meaning he'd remember his palm-like hair. And, hadn't Frieza said that he looked like his father? Then surely Radditz would see the resemblance, wouldn't he? Goku looked at Bulma and realized that she was probably having the same thoughts. They looked at each other and Bulma sighed.

"Alright. But I warn you, you might get a big surprise."

"Whatever. I'll go bring them."

"Right." Goku said. "Could you bring some food while you're at it?"

Vegeta glared at him. He couldn't even get enough food for himself. He turned around and left.

* * *

**PRESENT**

The three saiyans landed on Dende's Lookout. Piccolo was meditating. He opened one eye and grunted, putting his feet on the ground and turning to look at them. He nodded as a way of greeting Vegeta and the Saiyan nodded back.

"Piccolo!" Gohan exclaimed.

The namekian grinned. "Gohan. Goten."

The younger half-saiyan smiled and lifted a hand.

"Where's Dende?" Vegeta asked.

"Here." The younger namekian said, walking out with Popo stepping on his heels. "What a pleasant surprise, all of you. How have you been?"

"Fantastic. My wife and children disappeared from the physical plane and Kakkarot poofed out with them, so I decided to come pay you two nameks a visit. Care for some tea and cookies?" Vegeta spat out, glaring at them.

Piccolo rolled his eyes. "I see you are the same sweet, cheery man we have all come to know and love." He commented.

"What do you mean?" Dende said. "Bulma, Trunks, Bulla and Goku left? Where to?"

Vegeta pinched the bridge of his nose. "As much as I'd love to answer that with a sarcastic comment to point out how utterly idiotic you can be, I think I'll accelerate the process because I really need to know where my mate is."

"We were hoping you could do an overall search of my dad and Bulma. We can't feel their kis." Gohan said, in an attempt to soothe the situation.

"Now that you mention it," Dende said "Piccolo and I stopped sensing Goku a while ago, but just thought he was going incognito because Chichi was mad or something…"

"Yeah, but if you focus really hard, you can see it disappeared completely." Goten said.

Dende and Piccolo closed their eyes. After a while, the younger one opened them. "You're right… It's as if they were… dead."

"Shut up." Vegeta growled. "Bulma left a note earlier saying that I shouldn't look for her because she was in another dimension or something…"

"And you believed her?" Piccolo snickered. "That woman is a problem magnet."

"Yes, namek, I believed her but I came here because I wanted to tell you about my day." Vegeta answered.

"Wait." Dende said. "I'll go to the center of the Lookout. It can locate any energy, anywhere. I'll be right back. Mr. Popo, if you'd be so kind…"

Popo smiled and nodded. "Certainly so."

The two walked away.

"Say, Vegeta," Piccolo said. "I thought you were too tough you love." He said, a playful smile on his lips.

Vegeta growled. "Love is for the weak. I don't _love_ so shut your green, disgusting mouth, you namekian trash."

"Right. Then why is it so imperative to see _your wife_ now?"

"Because…" he quickly thought of something and glared at the green man. "She left no dinner for me and I'm hungry as hell."

Goten snickered. "Right. C'mon, dude. We all know it already."

"I'm not your dude!" Vegeta screamed, blushing. All of them laughed. "SHUT UP!"

* * *

**PAST**

"Nappa, Radditz." Vegeta called. The two saiyans stopped sparring and turned to look at their little prince. "Come with me. There's something I'd like to show you."

Both of them landed on the ground and followed their prince.

"Is everything okay?" Nappa asked.

"I don't know." He admitted after a brief silence.

Vegeta was a bit nervous. He didn't know if Nappa and Radditz would be able to see them. What if they couldn't and they ended up saying that he was crazy as well? He knew they'd always be at his side, but he didn't want them to think that he was nuts. Of course, he knew they often thought he was getting madder by the second because of the situation he was forced to live in, but he trusted that they somehow considered that he had some little sense in him. Hi train of thought was broken suddenly when he seemed to crash into a wall. He staggered back a few steps and heard two growls behind him. Who were Nappa and Radditz trying to intimidate? He blinked a few times and looked up. His own growl formed in his chest. Dodoria.

"Well, well, well. What is the little baby monkey doing here?"

"Get out of my way, Dodoria." He growled.

"Why? I thought you'd be sleeping off those injuries." Dodoria laughed, crossing his arms. "You just can't do anything right, can you?"

"I said, get out of my way!" the tiny prince screamed.

"Such a loudmouth." Dodoria growled. "What if I teach you a little lesson?"

"Leave him alone, Dodoria." Nappa said. "That's enough."

"Oh, ho, ho. What will the two monkeys do? Rescue the little princess?"

Vegeta glared at him and tried to sidestep him, but Dodoria moved. It didn't help that he was so wide.

"Move, Dodoria." The prince growled. He would've fought and would've tried to kick the man's balls, but right now he was in too much pain and was too weak to complain. He just wanted to get this over with and get some sleep before Frieza or Zarbon wanted him to have another training session.

Unfortunately, before anyone could do or see anything, Dodoria thrust his foot forward and struck the little prince. Vegeta was sent flying backwards and crashed into the wall with a whimper. He slid to the floor and held his stomach, trembling. The earlier wounds reopened and began to ooze blood again. He closed his eyes shut. Radditz growled and was about to punch Dodoria, but Nappa stopped him with a glare. The younger Saiyan sighed. He knew that if he attacked Dodoria, it would only be worse for Vegeta. Dodoria laughed as he saw their faces and walked over to the tiny prince who lay huddled against the wall. He sent his foot forward again and struck his knee against the child's face. It didn't help that his massive knee was bigger than the tiny child's face. He screamed as his nose broke and his lips busted.

"I hope that teaches you to bow before your superiors, you stupid little monkey."

The child growled and tried to stand up, but Dodoria slammed his fist onto the prince's tail and he fell again on his hands and knees, screaming. The pink blob straightened up, chuckling and walked away, purposefully bumping his shoulder with Radditz's. Vegeta swallowed and took a look at his now broken tail. He gave a few deep breaths and got up on trembling legs. He leaned on the wall and tried to compose himself.

"Come on." He said breathlessly. There was one idea in his mind: Leaving that place as soon as possible.

Nappa and Radditz looked at each other as they followed their limping prince down the hall and outside.

* * *

**PRESENT**

"Vegeta," Dende said, reappearing before them. "I know where they are, but you're not going to like it."

Vegeta growled. "Spit it out."

"Apparently they travelled through time and space and they are currently in another timeline." Dende said. "That's why you can't sense them. They're out of _this _physical plane."

"As in... another timeline?" Gohan asked. Dende nodded.

"Why would they do that?" Gohan asked. "Did they go to the future?"

"No. They went back to the past."

"Why?"

"I don't know their reasons, but I can guess them." He said. He looked back at Piccolo nervously, communicating telepathically with the older namek. Piccolo's eyes widened and he looked over at Vegeta. "Vegeta, I think you might recognize this coordinates: 122.111.012 South." He said.

"Planet Frieza number one…" Vegeta said softly, too many emotions boiling up.

"When you were six-years-old."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:**Thanks for the reviews, guys!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything. Only my imagination that becomes dirty when Vegeta is around. Bad, WildVegeta!

* * *

Nappa and Radditz observed Vegeta warily as the prince came to a halt in the middle of nowhere. Was he going to show them a new technique? They waited patiently until the prince suddenly snapped.

"Shut up! That is none of your business! Now touch them."

"Uhm… Vegeta?" Radditz asked, concerned.

The gang from the future turned around as they heard a set of footsteps nearing them. Bulla turned around, but her cheery smile vanished completely. The Prince looked in a worse state than before. His nose was bleeding, as well as his split lip. His tail was not wrapped around his waist anymore. It hung limply behind him, twisted in an odd angle. He hadn't been gone that long. Had Frieza hurt him again? So soon after his last punishment? She walked up to him with worry straining her young features.

"Vegeta, what happened to you? Did he beat you again?" she asked softly.

"Shut up! That is none of your business! Now touch them."

"Uhm… Vegeta?"

Goku looked at Trunks and the younger man nodded. It would be safer if it was them who touched the saiyans, lest they got scared and tried to attack them. They quickly advanced on them. Goku gripped Radditz's wrist, whilst Trunks touched Nappa's chest. Both saiyans jumped as two men suddenly materialized before them. Radditz cursed and wrenched his arm away from Goku's hand. Nappa growled as he slapped Trunks's hand away from his chest and gave a step back. But, suddenly, both of them noticed something was extremely wrong.

"F-father?" Radditz whispered. It made sense. Goku currently looked much older than teenage Radditz.

"No." Nappa said. "That isn't Bardock. There's no scar on his cheek."

"No… I'm not Bardock." Goku said with seriousness on his face.

Radditz frowned. That couldn't be his brother either. Kakkarot would be around two years old. But then why did he look so much like Bardock? Did he have an uncle he didn't know about?

"Hey, Radditz." Nappa said. "Doesn't this kid look an awful lot like the prince?"

Radditz took his eyes off of the man before him for a moment and looked at the 'boy', who also looked older than him. He looked at his face and his eyes widened. Sure, he had purple hair and eyebrows, but he had the prince's expression. The same eyes, the same nose, the same frown… He looked back at Vegeta, who was frowning confusedly at his comrades.

"What the hell are you saying, Nappa?" Vegeta demanded.

"He does look a lot like you, Prince Vegeta." Radditz said.

"He does not! He has purple hair."

"Yeah. He obviously isn't a Saiyan." Nappa said. "Who the fuck are you two?"

Suddenly, out of nowhere, two girls materialized at their sides. They were extremely beautiful, and Radditz found himself smirking at the little girl that was around his age, a bit younger maybe, and she looked up at him, ignoring the big, damaged machine that appeared out of nowhere.

"Well, hello there, beautiful." He said. Bulla blushed.

This Radditz guy was hot.

"Shut up, kid." Nappa said. "We haven't got time for this." He shoved Bulma away from him and crossed his arms. "Now tell me, who are you?"

"I'm Bulma, this is Trunks, that's Bulla and that's Goku. We come from another dimension and accidentally landed here."

"Why do you look so much like my father?" Radditz growled in Goku's face.

"Oh… heh… Do I really? He must've been handsome!" Goku joked nervously.

"Shut up!" Nappa said. "There's no time for this. Do you have anything to do with Soldier Bardock?"

"I… don't think so." He lied. Vegeta knew he was lying, but decided not to comment on it.

"And you? Do you have anything to do with Prince, or King Vegeta?" the big man asked again, this time looking at Trunks.

"No, not at all." He said.

"What race are you?" Radditz barked.

"We're… not from around here." Bulma said. "We come from a planet located in another dimension and well… you won't recognize it."

"Why did you travel here?" Nappa asked.

"We already told you it was an accident." Trunks answered. "We were trying to reach another dimension to investigate some type of technology but found ourselves stranded here."

"You will have to explain yourselves better." Nappa growled.

"We haven't got time for this." Vegeta said, glaring at his comrades. He was feeling extremely light headed and his injuries were still bleeding. "They need us to steal some things so that they can repair their beloved machine."

"Why do you want to help these freaks?" Radditz asked.

Vegeta shrugged. He didn't want Radditz and Nappa to know. They would obviously want to leave as well and Vegeta knew that the strange group was reluctant to let him in, let alone him _and _his companions. He didn't want to betray his comrades, but he wouldn't blow his chance. Perhaps later, when things were a little calm and he gained the group's trust, they'd decide to take Nappa and Radditz along. As of now, the prince would use them to fetch things and help him hide everything from Frieza.

"Are you questioning me, thirdclass?" he growled. Goku smiled slightly as he was reminded of Vegeta back home.

"No, prince."

"Good. Then tell us what you need."

"Okay." Bulma said. "I still haven't got the full list yet, but I think we'll start with a few screwdrivers to open the control panel. Bring all the screwdrivers you can find. We have a lot of screws here."

* * *

**PRESENT**

"WHAT?" he screamed. "Why would they do that? Why would they deliberately go into Frieza's ship and – "

"Vegeta." Piccolo growled. "Calm down."

"Calm down? CALM DOWN!" he snapped.

"I believe they just went as spectators." Dende said, trying to soothe Vegeta's ruffled feathers. "They won't get any harm."

"Even if that was true, it was still a complete idiocy. Why would they want to go as spectators to Frieza's ship? Haven't they seen enough blood already?" Vegeta screamed.

"Maybe they just wanted to know about your childhood…" Goten said quietly.

"My childhood? It's _my _past to tell or not! How dare they try to – to…" he growled in frustration and punched one of the lookout's indestructible pillars. It cracked slightly and the whole infrastructure shuddered, but nothing major happened.

"Vegeta, calm down. I'm sure they're okay." Dende said. "They're with Goku."

"That's exactly what pisses me the fuck off." He growled. "We have to get them back."

"It might be a mistake to take you back to your own past." Dende said.

"That's preposterous. They are practically back in their own past. Past Kakkarot and Past Bulma are living there as well, just not in the same place."

"Exactly." Dende said. "Not in the same place."

"But Future Trunks was in the same place with baby Trunks when he came here." Gohan pointed out.

"I don't mean it in an ethereal sense." Dende said. "If you affect that timeline it'll split and become another one, but that's the least important issue. What if Frieza or his men see two Vegetas in the same timeline?"

"Please. Kakkarot and I could take on Frieza's army alone without breaking a sweat." Vegeta said. "Not to mention Trunks and the two emptyheads over there will be with us." He said, shoving his finger over his shoulder to point at Gohan and Goten.

"HEY!" both half-breeds yelled.

"I don't mean that." He sighed. "It's too complicated to explain, anyway. However, there's one thing that should worry you. Don't you think that the younger version of you would want to come with you? What if he reports to Frieza and Frieza decides to time travel as well? He could destroy entire timelines. THAT would be chaotic."

"But you said Bulma, Trunks, Bulla and Kakkarot went as spectators." Vegeta said. "How would the younger version of me know that such thing exists?"

"Unfortunately, the only way I see of sending you back will immediately make you visible for the people in that timeline." Dende mused. "And since we don't want that timeline to be ruined, you'd just take your family and Goku back, giving young Vegeta a chance of seeing you and going to Frieza."

"No. I know another way." Vegeta said. "I know the perfect way to go back."

* * *

**PAST**

"Radditz, the day has already started, so the technicians will probably be working there already. " Vegeta said as they walked back into the base. "I think the techlab #12 has only three technicians there. We can't kill them or render them unconscious, so Nappa, you will go and destroy the door of your room and call for them to come fix it. You have to demand that all of them come to ensure a faster service. Radditz and I will look in the lab and steal all the screwdrivers we can find. Got it?"

Both saiyans nodded and Nappa ran off to his room. The little prince and Radditz stood near the techlab, glaring at each soldier that passed next to them. They smirked as a faint crash told them that Nappa was successful. The oaf jogged up to them a few minutes later and entered the lab.

"You three!" he demanded. "My door stopped working. Come and fix it now."

"Uh… I'll go." One of them said.

"No. I demand the three of you. I need it repaired immediately."

"We're kind of busy" Another one said. "I'm sure only one of us – "

"I said I wanted the three of you. NOW. Or I'll rip your heads off and eat them tonight." He growled. The three technicians flinched and followed him outside. Radditz and Vegeta watched them leave before they barged into the room and began to look for the famous screwdrivers.

* * *

**PRESENT**

"I don't think Dr. Briefs will have a machine ready in less than a week." Gohan said after Vegeta told them their plan, which consisted in going to Capsule Corp and asking Bulma's father to build another time machine that could take everyone back. "Bulma's been working on this one for over a month."

"You knew it all along!" Vegeta accused.

"NO! No, no, no! She told me she was building it because Toriyama Corporation was offering a lot of money for it, but it wasn't quite finished yet. I think the whole let's-go-to-Vegeta's-past thing was a last minute idea." The younger man explained.

"Right. But the blueprints must be in her lab and that saves a lot of work. If the old man works only in the machine we'll have it in less time."

"Still…"

Vegeta blasted off of the lookout before Gohan could continue arguing. He sighed and followed him. Goten rolled his eyes and blasted off after them.

* * *

**PAST**

"Here." Vegeta said, dropping the tools at their feet. Bulma smiled as she leaned over to look at them.

"Awesome." She said. "Trunks, look for the ones we'll need."

Trunks nodded and picked them up, handing her mother a couple of them.

"I'll go to sleep now." Vegeta growled, limping away. Nappa and Radditz watched as he left before turning towards the group, glaring murderously at them.

"Okay. Now you listen." Nappa growled. "Vegeta is the Prince of our Race and we won't let any harm come to him. You will tell us your intentions now or we'll rip your intestines out and choke you with them."

"So that's where he gets those gruesome ideas." Bulla said, glaring at Nappa. The bald man decided to ignore her… if only for the time being.

"Start speaking now." Nappa said.

"We already told you it was an accident." Trunks said. "We can't be seen by anyone unless we touch them. That's why you couldn't see us before. We touched Vegeta's blanket by accident and he could see us, so we asked for help to try and fix our machine."

"We know Prince Vegeta. He wouldn't accept helping anyone unless having something in return." Radditz said, crossing his arms. "What did you offer?"

"Why do you care?" Bulla answered, raising her eyebrow.

Radditz glared at her, but tried to remain quiet. He hated her sharp tongue, but they had surely offered something to Vegeta, and they didn't want them to regret their decision because of them.

"Prince Vegeta is just a kid." He growled. "He is six-years-old. We are his guardians and we don't want you to take advantage of him."

Bulla's eyes softened and she sighed. "I thought Frieza was his guardian?" she said bitterly, more to herself than anything, but their sensitive ears picked up on it.

"Frieza is no guardian." Nappa growled. "And that is not your business anyway."

Trunks sighed. "We offered him an escape." He said.

"You can't promise him a thing like that." Radditz said. "Why would you get his hopes up?"

"We're not…" Bulma sighed in frustration. "Listen, we really need to get out of here."

"Can you really take him away?" Nappa asked suddenly. "Can you really help him escape?"

"We can try." Goku said.

"We'll help you." Nappa answered. "But you will have to take Prince Vegeta with you."

"What about you?" Bulma asked. She was almost sure they'd tell them to take both of them as well.

"Don't worry about us. As long as Vegeta is safe, everything's okay." Radditz said. "But if you betray him, we'll hunt you down and kill you."

* * *

Vegeta had been asleep for a little over an hour, when somebody knocked on his door. He sat up and put his armor back on.

"What?"

"Prince Vegeta." Nappa said.

"Come on in."

The two saiyans walked inside and the door closed behind them. Vegeta's eyes widened as he realized that Radditz was carrying four big pieces of meat. His stomach growled. He hadn't eaten anything in days. Radditz sat at the edge of his bed while Nappa stood behind him, his arms crossed as he stared at the prince. Vegeta gladly took the food from Radditz's hands and sank his canines into the hard piece of meat.

"I know it's not much, but it was all we could sneak in." Radditz said. "Uhm, listen… about the group you showed us earlier…"

Vegeta swallowed the first piece and frowned up at him. "What about them?"

"Well… they told us what they promised you." Radditz said. Vegeta tensed. "Vegeta… you're our prince. We promised we'd take care of you."

"I don't need you to take care of me. I can take care of myself."

"Vegeta, you already tried to escape once." Nappa said quietly.

"Don't…" Vegeta said softly. He didn't want to remember it. He had never felt so much pain in his life. "I remember well."

"Vegeta, you know we're with you in everything, but we don't think this is such a good idea. You are risking your safety by stealing things for them and… attempting to leave. Maybe you should think this over." Radditz said.

"I want to leave now. They are our only chance. They said they could take me away. I don't want to be here any longer." Vegeta said. "You have to help me." The little prince looked at the verge of tears.

"Vegeta, we will help you." Nappa said. "You're our prince. We just want you to think this over. Don't rush into anything."

Vegeta frowned and looked down at his food. He shoved another piece into his mouth.

"We mean it. We just want you to be safe."

Vegeta was about to answer when his scouter beeped. He grabbed it and pressed the button on its side. Zarbon's voice came in.

"_Monkey, don't tell me you forgot our training session." _ He said. Vegeta's eyes darkened. _"Hurry up or I'll add time."_

Vegeta devoured the rest of his meal and sighed, getting off of the bed. Nappa looked at him with worry. The little prince walked to the door.

"I'll… It'll be around two hours." He said. "Then we'll talk about this."

* * *

**PRESENT**

"A time machine?"

"I have the blueprints here." Vegeta said.

"It will take a lot of time!" Dr. Briefs said, scanning the papers in his hands. "Not impossible but certainly difficult."

"It took Bulma a month with all the work." Vegeta argued.

"I might need a few days, a week maybe."

"Vegeta, we should just wait for them to get back." Gohan said. "They'll surely be back soon."

"Who will be back?" Dr. Briefs asked.

"Your daughter and my children used the Time Machine to travel to my past." Vegeta spat out.

"Oh, no!" the man said. "That machine wasn't done yet! It couldn't handle two timelines at the same time!"

"You're gonna have to explain that, old man." Vegeta growled.

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, there we go. I have to mention, first of all, that I am totally ignoring Turle's movie, so I discarded the possibility of Goku resembling another Saiyan because of how they are born artificially or something I watched when I was still too young and have not watched again - not for lack of interest, mind you.

Review, please!


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Thanks for your reviews!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything, only my obsession. It's a healthy one, though. I've only cried five or six times over the fact that the love of my life is a fictional character and won't ever be able to love me.

* * *

Nappa awoke with a start when someone knocked on his door. He glared at the door before reaching for his armor and walking up to it. Goku and Bulla were waiting for him outside.

"What do you want now?"

"Do you saiyans do anything other than sleeping?" Bulla said.

Nappa growled. "Watch your mouth, whore."

Before Bulla could answer, Goku cut in. "We were wondering if you could take Vegeta outside so that Bulma can tell him what other things we need. We couldn't find him in his room."

"He's having a training session right now." Nappa said. "Tell me what you want and I'll make sure – "

"Monkey." Zarbon said as he approached Nappa's room. Bulla gasped when she saw that his gloves, boots and chest plates were covered in blood. An awful feeling of foreboding invaded her as the green alien smiled. "Perfect timing. The Prince is in the Training Rooms. You may want to pick him up; I don't think he'll be able to get up on his own." He laughed and walked down the hall. Nappa glared at him and was about to jog down to the Training rooms when the green pretty boy stopped. "And by the way, the Prince will not be allowed tanks until further notice."

Nappa growled and began to walk down the hall. Goku and Bulla looked at each other before following him.

"He won't be able to talk to you for a while." Nappa said. "If I were you, I'd go away and come back when he gets better."

"When will he get better?"

Nappa didn't answer. He just walked across the hall with Goku and Bulma following him. There was a tense silence until they arrived to an ample, round hall surrounded by various doors. He sighed as he entered one and Bulla and Goku followed him inside. Bulla gasped and covered her mouth when she saw the scene that greeted her.

* * *

**PRESENT**

"Bulma told me about the Time Machine a while ago. She was building it for some sort of company that would pay her a lot of money for it, but she was having doubts because if it fell on bad hands it would be a disaster. She built it, though, because she was curious about it, but it wasn't quite perfect. When I tested it, I found that it was lacking various cables that would sustain two atmospheres at the same time. If they touched one single thing, they would be visible, but the machine would fail to work." Dr. Briefs explained, caressing his mustache.

"You mean that if they touch one single thing, they will be visible to everyone?" Vegeta said, dangerously calm.

"No. I think they need to _move _something to make themselves visible, but I'm not sure. Besides, since the machine can't handle the whole new atmosphere, I don't know if they will be visible by everyone. I mean, if they touch one person, that person would see them, but I don't think that the whole new timeline would. The machine wasn't that potent."

Vegeta pinched the bridge of his nose. Long time ago he would've blasted the whole laboratory and would've killed anything to release himself from all the pent-up anger. But he decided to try and calm down first. It would do no good to hurt the old scientist.

"Can you build the damn thing or not?" he growled.

"I can try."

* * *

**PAST**

There was blood everywhere. The walls, the floor, even the ceiling, which were also cracked and burnt. There, in the middle of the floor, lay the tiny child, still conscious but unable to move. He was lying on his stomach, his eyes – or eye, because one was swollen shut and crusted with blood – wide with pain and fear. Tears ran steadily down his swollen cheeks. Bulla walked weakly up to him. His little face was horribly bruised, and his limbs lay sprawled around him, twisted in unnatural, painful angles. His armor lay discarded in a corner, unharmed, but his spandex suit was soaked red and ragged. What was worst of all his injuries, though, was his little tail. The fur was matted with blood, and there was a knot tied in the middle of it. He didn't look up when three figures entered. Nappa kneeled next to him and Vegeta flinched backwards, his eyes clenching shut. The burly Saiyan grabbed the tiny prince in his arms, went for the armor, and carried him out. Bulla followed in tears, Goku walked behind them with fury in his features.

They entered Vegeta's room and Nappa cautiously put him on the bed. Vegeta sighed and his eyes rolled to the back of his head.

"I can't believe this." Bulla said.

"Daily thing. We're used to it by now." Nappa said.

"We being Radditz and you, right? I doubt Vegeta will ever get used to this." The girl answered.

"More or less. A year ago he would fight and insult Zarbon until they had to tear his tongue off."

"They what?" Goku said, dangerously calm.

Radditz entered then. He seemed agitated. His eyes landed on the little child and he sighed. The small bag they had seen the first time they were there lay on his calloused hand. He sat on the bed and glared at the pair of 'aliens'.

"What the hell do you want?" he growled as he began to remove the child's spandex. Everyone winced at the child's destroyed body.

"We needed some other things for the Machine." Bulla said. "But we can come back later."

"Don't bother to come back at all." Nappa said.

"Do you need help with that?" Bulla asked softly. "I know a bit of medicine."

"He'll be fine." Radditz answered as he finished cleaning his body. "They'll give him a tank soon."

"But the tail – "

"Just shut up." Nappa said. Radditz turned him over so that he was lying on his stomach and grabbed the tail. Unluckily enough, the child gasped and woke up.

"W-what… Nappa? Radditz?"

"We're here." Radditz said. "Vegeta… we need to unknot your tail."

"No!" Vegeta exclaimed. "No. Wait until they give me the tank. They'll…"

"Vegeta… if we don't fix that, your tail can suffer severe damage. Besides, wouldn't you prefer us untying it than those bastards in the infirmary?"

Vegeta looked away and nodded a little. Radditz grabbed the tail softly while Nappa held Vegeta down with all the care he could. Vegeta glared at Goku and was about to tell them to leave, when a sharp cry escaped his lips. Radditz was trying to unknot the tail, but Zarbon had done a job on it. Vegeta trashed, but Nappa held him down, taking advantage of the fact that the prince was in a weak state. Under other circumstances, the child would've broken both of Nappa's arms without breaking a sweat. Some minutes passed before Vegeta was in tears again, shrieking and clawing at the bed below him. Bulla was crying as well, watching as the six-year-old child struggled and cried while Radditz tugged at his tail to remove the knot. The prince howled in pain and finally, Radditz succeeded and released the tail. Vegeta buried his head in the pillow as sobs of pain wracked his little frame. Suddenly, out of nowhere, he got up and punched the thirdclass in the face.

"Vegeta, no!" Goku shouted.

"Leave him." Nappa said. "He won't harm him too much and he needs to release his anger on something." He added as Vegeta began to punch Radditz in the face as he sat on his chest. The thirdclass didn't try to defend himself, and Vegeta stopped after a minute. He swallowed and climbed down from his comrade. He panted and winced once the adrenaline caused by the rage wore off. He climbed back on the bed and clenched his jaw. He knew that at least one, if not all, of his limbs was broken. He lied down and gave his back to them.

"Leave me alone. I'll help you with your machine when they give me a tank." He muttered. He was trying with all his might not to cry.

Bulla and Goku decided to let him be for now. They stepped out of the room and Radditz left behind them. Nappa stayed inside, to be with Vegeta in case he needed anything. Not like they could provide him with much anyway…

Bulla burst into tears the second she stepped out of the compound. Trunks looked at her and frowned.

"Did they hurt you?" he asked.

"No." she said. "When we got there, Vegeta had been hurt again. Horribly hurt. It was terrible."

"Well…" Bulma said. "We fixed a bit with the heat of Trunks's ki but we can't do much more."

"We'll have to wait." Goku said. "He can barely move." He sighed and sat cross legged on the ground. "Man, this sucks. I'm so hungry!"

"Me too." Trunks said. "We should go ask Radditz and Nappa for food or we'll starve."

Goku nodded. "I'll come with you. They won't be happy with us so maybe it'll be safer if Trunks and I ask them."

"Okay, then." Trunks muttered.

* * *

"Zarbon, how did the training session with my little monkey go?" Frieza asked, swirling his wine.

"He's getting better, my lord. He stands his ground much better, but he still fails a bit." He answered. "I am afraid you'll need to call a cleaning team to fix the Training Room, sir."

"Poor little thing. He's surely crying right now. I ought to have that camera installed in his room, don't you think?" The lizard commented. "Imagine being able to watch the little ape crying every night in that room of his. Ecstatic."

"Of course, sir." Zarbon said.

"Wait for an hour, and then tell him to get into a tank. After that, he'll be allowed to eat in a regular basis until he screws up." He laughed. "Although it won't be too long before that."

"Yes, sir. Anything else?"

"No." he purred.

* * *

Goku and Trunks decided to let at least half an hour pass before they got inside again and began looking for one of the saiyans. They found Radditz training.

"Hey," Goku told his brother as they approached him. Radditz was punching an imaginary opponent. He turned to see them and growled, not stopping his routine.

"You are getting on my nerves." The long-haired Saiyan said as he kicked the invisible counterpart. "What do you want now? Vegeta is not available right now. You know that."

"We were just wondering if you could get some food for us." Trunks said. "We don't know how long it'll take for us to fix the machine and with Vegeta out of it we – "

"I can't." he growled. "We're only allowed to get food on schedule and Frieza lowered our amounts of food after the Tzarin fiasco."

"The-the what?" Goku asked.

His brother sent another punch and sent them a sideways glare. "Frieza gave us one week to purge a planet that would've taken at least two." He said. "Tzarins are stronger than what he told us so that didn't help either." He stopped for a second and straightened up. "Among other things," he continued "the food deprivation was one of his _punishments._" He spit the last word with a sharp lash of his tail and turned to glare at them. "Nappa and I got our rations cut in half. Prince Vegeta got his rations cut off completely. If we go through the trouble of eating even less or stealing some scraps of food, it will be for him. Not you."

Goku sighed. "I'm sorry to hear that." He said, for lack of a better comment.

"Whatever." Radditz answered, rolling his eyes. He was about to go out, when Zarbon entered the room. The Saiyan growled at him.

"Having fun, monkey?" the pretty boy said.

"What the fuck do you want?"

"Watch that mouth, kid." Zarbon said, amused. "You don't want to end up like your little prince now, do you?" he laughed when the Saiyan growled and clenched his fists. "I came here because Lord Frieza has decided to be merciful. You can eat normally now. The little Prince, too. You can take him to the tanks at 2398." That being said, he walked away, his cape swirling behind him.

Radditz sighed and grabbed his armor, putting it back on. "Seems you got lucky."

* * *

"Vegeta." Radditz muttered, shaking the tiny prince.

"No." Vegeta moaned. "No more."

"Hey, it's me." Radditz said, patting his sore cheek. Vegeta's eyes fluttered open and he took a deep breath. "They are going to give you a tank. Come on." He helped the child to sit up and get off of the bed. Vegeta leaned against Radditz's leg and waited until the dizziness cleared. He gave one step ahead. His broken legs protested, but he had run with broken legs before, escaping Frieza. He could surely walk up to the infirmary on his own. With Radditz and Nappa following him in case he passed out again, but without being carried. His tail waved behind him to help him get some balance as he walked out the door and leaned on the wall of the hall. His body protested. It would've been much better to be carried by Radditz, but his pride wouldn't allow it. If he was able to walk, then he'd do so.

"Radditz," Vegeta panted. "Where are they now?" he asked. There was some sort of fear in his heart. What if they had left without him while he was out?

"Outside, waiting for you." The older boy answered. "By the way, Frieza will let us eat normally again."

Vegeta sighed in relief and nodded, trying not to show the absolute happiness that was growing inside of him.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **Thank you so much for reviewing.

**Disclaimer: **Nope. I still don't own Vegeta's p... princely self.

* * *

The group from the future smiled as they watched Radditz and Nappa dump food at their feet.

"Here." Radditz said. "Vegeta will be released in about an hour. Then we'll help you with the rest. You better have that thing done fast before he loses his temper."

"If he wants to leave then he'll have to be patient." Bulma said, kneeling down next to Goku and grabbing one of the smaller pieces. "The machine is far from done."

"Don't you backtalk to me you piece of shit." Radditz growled.

"Hey, why are you so rude? How old are you anyway?" Bulma said, glaring at him.

"What do you care?" Radditz said.

"I don't." Bulma said, shrugging. "Just trying to make conversation."

"I'm fourteen." Bulla said, shoving meat into her mouth.

"What do I care?" Radditz said, shrugging.

"He's sixteen." Nappa said, a little smirk on his lips. Radditz glared at him. "We're going to train. We'll come back with Vegeta in a while."

* * *

There wasn't much to do around, so Goku and Trunks soon fell asleep while Bulla and Bulma talked about different things. The little prince went to them after he had eaten, flanked by his two men. He glared at them and cleared his throat. Goku and Trunks's eyes shot open and they stretched before sitting up. Goku scratched the back of his head and yawned, the corners of his eyes wet from his sudden wakening. Trunks was more alert, frown in place and prepared to defend himself and his family if necessary.

"Hurry." Vegeta said. "What is it you need?"

"Well," Bulma said, getting up and walking over to the machine. "We'll start with the first control panel. It seems the morphers have exploded, so first we'll need to replace the cables. If you could get me a replica of this and…" while Vegeta walked over to see what Bulma needed, Radditz and Nappa began to talk silently between them, not aware that Trunks, Goku and Bulla had also inherited the saiyan's hearing.

"Frieza told me we'll be sent in a mission soon." Nappa muttered. "But he's still deciding whether to send the three of us or not."

"That could be good. Some time away could do us some good. Especially Vegeta."

"I don't know. That would delay the whole… machine thing. Besides, Dodoria kind of laughed when he told me. That means they'll send us on a difficult mission again."

"We've been sent on hard missions before. There's nothing we can't handle, Nappa. As for the machine, they'll have to wait. How long did he tell you the mission was?"

"A week."

"A week?" Bulla exclaimed. "You can't leave us alone for a week. We'll starve!"

"What?" Vegeta said, turning around. "What is she talking about?"

"Dodoria told me about a mission Frieza is thinking of." Nappa growled, glaring at Bulla. "It's about a week long."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Vegeta said.

"Dodoria told me a few hours ago and he said he wasn't sure." Nappa answered.

"That will delay the machine."

"Forget the machine." Bulla said. "What about us? We can't go an entire week without food!"

"What do I care?" Vegeta snapped.

"If we die of starvation, there will be no escape route for you, kid." Trunks hissed.

Vegeta sighed and rubbed his little temples. "This is what's going to happen and none of you will contradict me. I will get what you need as soon as possible so that you can fix your little toy as much as possible before we have to go on the mission. When we leave, we'll take you with us. You'll get into the pod with us, hoping you won't be clumsy idiots and let yourselves be seen by someone. You'll accompany us to the mission and then we'll be back and continue fixing the machine. Then you'll be fed when we're there and we'll be sure nobody sees you while we're away. Understood?"

Bulma didn't really agree, but she didn't mention it. There was no other way out and she knew it. She just didn't want to be there when Goku realized what their 'missions' consisted of. Goku was a protector. He protected the inhabitants of any planet and he couldn't bear to see an innocent man getting killed, let alone an entire population getting sent into oblivion. But they'd sort that out later. Maybe she could convince him of backing down because the civilization was dead now anyway… but Goku became an animal when it came to injustice and so did Trunks. It bothered her, on top of all, the fact that it was an entire week. She didn't want to be there an entire week. She knew Vegeta would already be head over heels now that they had left for a few hours… The note was meant to keep him at bay for a little time, not entire days on a row! She felt the back of her eyes getting burnt by an upcoming migraine and she sighed.

* * *

**PRESENT**

Vegeta rubbed his eyes and sat back on the couch. He had already trained for hours and couldn't get them out of his mind. He wasn't overly worried of something actually happening to them, because everyone in that timeline was weaker than Kakkarot and Trunks, and maybe Bulla. There was one thing bugging him, though: the possibility of them not being able to return. Besides, when Dr. Briefs was done with the new machine, he was worried about a number of things. First of all, the collapse of time and space and whateverthehell Dende had mentioned when they were on the Lookout. The possibility of Frieza staying alive and trying to conquer other dimensions bugged him immensely as well, or his younger self dying in the hands of Frieza because of hiding something from him, even when it wasn't his fault. He was also worried, although he hated to admit it, of seeing that place again. Frieza's base and ship held all of his deepest fears and was the place where most of his nightmares took place. He didn't want to put a feet on it, even when Frieza was unable of even touching him without Vegeta killing him on the spot. He sighed and looked at the clock. Soon it would be night again and the first day of torture would have passed. He suddenly felt two kis on his door. He growled when he recognized who it was and walked over to the door.

Yamcha and Krillin were preparing to ring, both nervous as hell, when the door slammed open revealing the prince. He crossed his arms and glared at them.

"What the hell do you want?"

"Oh, hi Vegeta." Krillin said. "Uhm, how've you been?"

Vegeta growled at him. "I don't know what has you humans believing that I am, or will ever be, in the mood to chit-chat with any of you. Why are you at my door?"

"We came to visit Bulma." Yamcha said, trying to sound brave.

"She's not here."

"We know that." Yamcha answered. "Why can't we feel her? What did you do?"

Both cringed and stepped back when a growling sound began to emanate from Vegeta's chest. He curled his upper lip, showing his long fangs, and glared at Yamcha.

"Are you implying that I did something to my mate? Is that it?"

"No, no!" Krillin said, rising his hands defensively. "We just thought you might know where she is. Her ki disappeared suddenly, along with Goku's and Trunks's and Bulla's. Since you're the only one… uhm… closest to all of them we thought we'd – "

"Gohan and Goten are around for your silly questions."

"Yeah, but they're here." Yamcha said.

Vegeta sighed when he realized that the sons of his archenemy hadn't left yet.

"So what? They don't know anything either."

"What happened, Vegeta?" Yamcha growled."Tell us."

"Why would I? You have no control over me, you silly human."

He was about to close the door, when Gohan appeared behind him.

"Hey, Krillin! Hey, Yamcha."

"Hi, Gohan."

"What are you two doing here?"

"They were leaving." Vegeta growled.

"No, we weren't!" Yamcha argued, feeling safer now that Gohan was there to protect him from the prince. "We noticed the sudden disappearance of Bulma's and Goku's kis and wanted to find out what was going on."

"It's kind of a long story." Gohan said. "Vegeta? Why don't you let them come in?"

Vegeta rolled his eyes and walked away. He was in no mood to argue with Gohan. He frankly just wanted to lie down and get rid of the headache that was taking over.

* * *

**PAST**

After they had given Bulma some of the things she needed, the three saiyans went to a training room to get some steam out. Vegeta sparred with Nappa while Radditz watched. The prince was way stronger than the oaf, but Nappa had much more experience, so he taught Vegeta how to be witty and use his strength to his advantage. The prince was much more hyperactive than ever, having eaten and been cured. A few hours later Nappa fell to the ground with no hopes of getting back up, knowing full well that the prince had been holding back despite himself. The big bald man sat up with a groan and cleaned the blood from under his nose while Radditz laughed.

"Come here and I'll teach you a lesson or two, thirdclass." Nappa growled.

"No, thanks. I'm good here." Radditz said, grinning.

"I'm hungry." Vegeta said. "We better enjoy the food while we're allowed. Come on."

…

"There you go." Bulma said. "I think I fixed one of the control panels, for now. I'll need more stuff, but I think we're done for now." She stretched and sat next to Goku, who was gazing up at the sky.

"Do you think we'll be here long?"

"I don't know." She admitted. "But I hope not."

Bulla and Trunks looked at their mother.

"Do you think dad's looking for us?" Bulla asked.

"That's an understatement, sweetie." Bulma said. "It would be a miracle if he hasn't blasted something now looking for us."

"We shouldn't have come here." Trunks said.

"It's too late to take it back, Trunks." Bulma said. "Next time we won't be so reckless."

They got interrupted when a few pieces of meat landed before them. Vegeta looked down at them. He was alone.

"It's going to be dark soon and I suppose you won't be able to work, so I'm heading to my room now."

Bulma smiled when she realized that he had come out only to bring them food.

"Wait!" Bulla said. "You can't leave us out here. We'll freeze to death."

"You won't die." He growled. "It's only a bit cold, that's all."

"Vegeta, let us sleep in your room!" Bulma said, realizing what her daughter was saying.

"Why would I? My room is small as it is."

"But we won't bother you." Goku said. He really didn't want to be out in the cold.

None of them really knew that Vegeta didn't want them to be in his room because more often than not, the child had nightmares. He didn't want them to think he was weak.

"The two of you will sleep with Radditz." He said finally, pointing at the men. If someone was going to find out about his deepest fears, it might as well be the girls. They seemed weak enough to kill if he got angry with them. Besides, he was sure the men would laugh at him, and he didn't want that. He had enough of that every day. "The girls will sleep in my room."

Goku was about to argue, but decided against it. Bulla could defend herself and her mother fine, and Goku would sense if there was any trouble. He nodded and they followed Vegeta inside the base. The prince quickly spoke to Radditz and both men entered the young saiyan's room. The girls followed the child into his own room.

Vegeta sighed and climbed onto his bed. Bulla looked at her mother and they sat on the ground, looking at the prince. He glared at them and turned around, giving his back to them, hoping against hope that no nightmares would haunt him that night. He took his armor off and threw it aside. He then took his gloves and boots off and lay down on the hard bed. It was still early, but he didn't want to go out of his room. He just wanted to sleep and forget everything. His hopes were broken, however, when his door slid open. He sat up suddenly and looked at the door, his eyes wide.

His little heart seemed about to explode when he noticed who was standing at the door.

"Well, hello, my little prince. It's a bit early for bed, isn't it?"

"I was tired, master Frieza." He said. "We just ate and headed back to bed."

"Are you enjoying your meals, monkey?" Frieza purred, getting closer to the bed. Vegeta nodded, not trusting his voice. "You didn't thank me."

"Th-thank you, master Frieza." Vegeta muttered. He swallowed.

"I was hoping we could get a little training session right now." He said. "What do you think?"

Vegeta looked away. He really didn't want to have a training session, but saying no would mean he'd be punished. He didn't know what was worse. Frieza smiled as he realized the little prince was trying hard not to tremble.

"I… I was in the tank only a few hours ago, sir. I-I don't think…" he swallowed.

"Well, we agree at that, don't we? Monkeys are incapable of thinking on their own." A deep red blush spread across Vegeta's cheeks. "I came to tell you that you and your companions will be going to Planet Yarned to deliver some of my payment."

"What? But I'm not an errand boy!" he exclaimed. Before he knew what hit him, Frieza's tail lashed out and struck him on his cheek. A deep cut began to leak blood.

"You will do as you are told, monkey." He hissed. "Planet Yarned's inhabitants are hostile. They will attack you if they don't like you."

"Why wouldn't they like us? They are getting paid." Vegeta said quietly.

"You see, my little monkey, the Yarnedians are waiting for me to come to them. They have never been on the saiyans side. You know what I mean? Yarnedians kind of liked the Tuffles." Frieza said, laughing quietly.

"Why would you send us there, then? Why not send another soldier?" Vegeta asked, glaring at the lizard.

"Because, my little monkey, what's a mission without a bit of action?" he purred. He got closer to Vegeta until he was sitting on the bed, his face inches away from the child's. He caressed the cut and Vegeta winced. The lizard drove his finger to his mouth and licked the blood. Both Bulla and Bulma winced in disgust. "You will be leaving in three days."

"Yes, master." The child said quietly.

The lizard leaned over to see the clock and smiled.

"I expect you in the Throne Room at 7891 for your training session. We can't let you get lazy now, can we?" he chuckled as he hopped off of the bed and walked away.

Vegeta sighed and looked at the clock. 6891. He rubbed his temples and looked at the girls.

"Seems like I'll be gone tonight." He muttered.

* * *

Goku and Trunks entered Radditz's room. The boy sat on the bed and glared at them.

"If it was my decision, you would've been dead long ago." He said.

"But it isn't." Trunks said.

"So when is that thing going to be ready?" Radditz asked.

"We're not sure yet." Goku said.

"Not like you should care. We probably won't take you anyway." Trunks spat out. He didn't know why, but for some reason he really didn't like this guy.

"I don't care." Radditz answered. "I just want the prince out of here."

"Why?" Goku asked.

"We already told you. It's not an easy life for the soldiers." Radditz said. "And he's just a kid."

"Well, you're not very old yourself." Trunks said.

"Frieza begins to hire soldiers around their fourteen years of age. Sometimes thirteen, but that's rare. There's not a six-year-old child anywhere, though." He said.

He lied down on the bed an put his hands behind his head, one leg crossed over the other as he stared at the ceiling.

"Radditz?" Goku began tentatively. The young man looked at him without turning his head. "Does… the prince have it worse than you because he's, well, the prince?"

Radditz closed his eyes and sighed. Then he opened them again and looked at the ceiling. "Vegeta has it worse than everyone for being the prince of saiyans." He said quietly. "We're soldiers to Frieza. Vegeta is more like… a pet. A trophy, if you might." He said. "Now go to sleep. I'm tired."

And with that, the thridclass boy turned around and closed his eyes, giving his back to them. Goku sighed and lied down on the ground, Trunks following suit.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** Thank you for the reviews, everyone

**Disclaimer: **Nope. No DBZ in my belongings yet.

* * *

"Get up."

Vegeta swallowed and once again tried to get on his feet. He realized he couldn't move his left leg. He unsteadily put all his weight on his right leg and looked at Frieza. The lizard surrounded him.

"Your stances are good but unsteady." He said. "Your punches are strong but lack speed and your kicks go way too high or way too low, monkey. Get into a defensive stance again."

Vegeta tried. His left leg didn't answer, his right hand couldn't be clenched into a punch and he couldn't lift his left arm above his navel. He blinked a few times but found himself on his knees again. Frieza growled and punched him. The child flew across the room and landed against the far wall with an anguished cry. He opened his one good eye to see that Frieza was walking up to him, his expression blank. He put both his hands flat on the wall behind him, trying to ignore the pain that caused to the fingers in his right, and pushed himself up. His tail would've waved to help him keep balance, but if he moved it he would see stars from the pain.

"I said, get into a defensive stance."

Vegeta tried again, leaning on his good leg and forcing his right hand into a fist. He decided to ignore his other arm, but Frieza noticed.

"Are you going to leave your left side unprotected, prince?" he purred. He thrust his foot forward and hit the little prince on his face. Vegeta felt the crack-pop of his jaw breaking and dislocating as he landed on the ground. Frieza's tail wrapped around his throat again and lifted him up. The prince gasped desperately. "You are useless."

He was slammed against the ground again and again until he couldn't move anymore. His own cries muffled his bones breaking. Frieza released him and kicked him on his side, making his body roll across the ground. Vegeta was about to start pleading, when the door of the Throne Room slid open. He breathed out a small sigh of relief and closed his eyes, praying that the person that had just come in would keep Frieza busy for a while. He cringed a bit when he heard somebody laughing. They were laughing at him.

"Lord Frieza, Captain Ginyu is on line 3."

"Thank you. Take the prince to his room, will you? And call somebody to clean the Throne Room."

The random soldier grabbed the back of Vegeta's torn and soaked suit and walked out of the room. Vegeta would've fought, but he had no energy left. The soldier got to Vegeta's room and threw the prince inside without a word. He then walked away. The prince whimpered when he hit the ground and trembled in pain.

Bulla and Bulma had woken up suddenly with the sound of the door, and the scene that greeted them didn't help the matters. A random man with some sort of helmet was holding Vegeta by the back of his suit. He threw the child carelessly to the floor and walked away, leaving a whimpering little prince on the ground. A puddle of blood was quickly forming below him. His tiny face was swollen and he looked like he couldn't move at all. He swallowed and turned his head around, so that his forehead was now against the cold floor. Very slowly, he put his hands at his sides and the women could see how one of his hands was completely destroyed. He began to try to drag his body across the floor, but Bullma stopped him. She lifted him in her arms and carried him to the bed. He winced when his back made contact with the hard structure and he began to cough, blood leaking down the corners of his lips.

"I… don't need your help." He whispered when Bulma tried to help him to sit up so that he could cough more comfortably.

"I know." She said softly. "I just figured I'd help you since I'm already here."

"I'm not weak." The child said suddenly, as if he was trying to convince himself.

"I know." Bulma said, looking through her pockets. "You are the strongest child I've ever met."

She withdrew a capsule from her pocket and read the number. She then pressed the top button and threw it to the ground. Vegeta didn't even flinch when it exploded, revealing a few bottles of water with ice inside of them. Bulma picked one up and took the tap off. Vegeta watched her with interest.

"I had forgotten about these. I often carry bottles of water in my pockets since I'm always down in the lab and it will just be a lot easier to take them out in a capsule than carry them around." She explained. She gave it to Vegeta.

He grabbed it with his good hand and looked at Bulma with wide eyes. Why was she helping him? He couldn't help but wonder if the water was poisoned. Vegeta was almost always thirsty, and while back at the palace he would just have to say the word to have tons of guards with golden cups full of water surrounding him, here he could almost never get a sip. And it was in moments like these, when he was so full of pain, that a sip of water would've been extremely welcome. He smelled it before taking it to his lips. After the first gulp went down his dry throat, he couldn't help but swallow it down entirely, ignoring the constant pain in his esophagus. He stopped when the bottle was half empty to get some breath. He cleaned the water running down his chin and looked up at the two women. They were smiling at him. He snarled and finished up the rest of the bottle before giving it to Bulma.

"Hide it. Nobody can see it." Vegeta said. "They'd kill me."

"You're not allowed to have water?"

"It's not that I'm not allowed." Vegeta said. "We can get water during breakfast, lunch or dinner or from the taps in the bathrooms and training rooms, but if they find that bottle they'll think I've been preserving it and that would be considered stealing." He said. He lied down and sighed. "I'm going to sleep now."

* * *

**PRESENT**

"So you're telling us that Bulma, Bulla, Trunks and Goku are with Frieza right now?" Krillin said. "The same Frieza we met on Namek?"

"Yes." Gohan said. "Only many years before that."

Goten seemed confused, but he didn't want to ask. His brother had told him Vegeta's story once, but he only knew details. He was a soldier, a murderer, working for some guy named Frieza. He had been told about Vegeta's arrival with Nappa, the fight with Goku, the trip to Namek, Frieza's soldiers, Frieza himself and the fights that had taken place until Goku arrived to, as usual, become a super Saiyan and save the day. Gohan seemed to cherish that story more than the others because it was the first time anyone had seen a super Saiyan. Goten knew that Frieza was sadistic and stuff, but just now the situation was kicking in: Vegeta lived with the same guy that had tortured everyone back on Namek, including the prince himself.

"Why would they do that?" Krillin asked.

"They didn't _want_ to be with Frieza. They wanted to see what Vegeta's past was like." Gohan explained.

"My question remains." Krillin said.

Vegeta appeared suddenly. He had been in his room, but he now walked downstairs and across the living room, up to the window next to the door. He looked outside, as if waiting for something.

"You two should head back now." He said. "Talk about this somewhere else."

Yamcha was about to complain but the other three men, being a bit more perceptive, could see the worry etched across Vegeta's features and decided to leave. The prince needed some time alone.

* * *

**PAST**

"Wake up." Radditz growled. "If Vegeta wakes up before you, he'll get angry."

Goku and Trunks stretched and looked up at the boy who was putting his armor on.

"Aren't there baths in here?" Trunks groaned.

The Saiyan boy glared at him. "Why? Does the little princess need a wash?"

"Now, listen here…" Trunks began, but Radditz cut him off.

"We only get baths after missions." He said. "Once in a while they put wet towels in the Training Rooms but that almost never happens."

His scouter began to beep and he picked it up off his bed.

'_Oi, thirdclass.' _Nappa's voice came in. _'Wake up.'._

"I'm up, chromehead." Radditz answered. "Have you seen the prince yet?"

'_He isn't answering his scouter. I'm going to his room. Meet me at the door.'_

"Right." He cut the transmission and turned to look at the two men in his room. "I'm going to Vegeta's room."

Goku and Trunks decided to follow him, so they all met outside Vegeta's door. Nappa knocked. Nothing. He was about to knock again, this time harder, when a shy voice answered from behind the door.

"He isn't waking up." Bulma said. "You might have to come on in."

They barged inside and Nappa cursed. He walked up to the prince's bed.

"What happened?" he demanded.

"Frieza came in last night and they had a training session." Bulla said.

"Damn that lizard." Radditz said.

"I don't get it." Trunks muttered. "He had a tank just… yesterday, didn't he? Why is Frieza beating him again?"

"It wasn't a beating per se." Radditz said, once again ridding the child of his destroyed spandex. "Frieza likes to train him a few times a week."

"Well, he surely looks as if he had gotten a beating." Bulma said. "That's no way of training a child."

"If Frieza beats him hard," Nappa said "nobody else will beat him harder."

"That's – "

"We hate it as well." Radditz said.

After getting him into a new spandex suit, Vegeta slowly opened his eyes. He groaned and put a hand on his forehead. His little tail twitched and he closed his eyes again. He tried to sit up and Radditz helped him, keeping a steady hand on his back. Vegeta swallowed and sighed deeply. He was hurting a lot, but he had to go and have some breakfast. Nappa handed him his armor and he put on his gloves and boots. Nobody said anything and the silence was growing thick. He finally jumped off of the bed and walked away without another word. The two saiyans followed him and Bulla, Bulma, Goku and Trunks decided to head outside so that Bulma could do some more work around the machine. Sometime later the three saiyans brought them food.

Nothing particularly interesting happened for the rest of the week. Their days were a routine: the girls would sleep with Vegeta and wake him up after he had horrible nightmares to give him a bit of water and calm him down. The boys would sleep with Radditz and they would barely say anything to each other. Vegeta still got beat up every day, various times a day, either by punishments or training sessions. Frieza visited him sometimes at night, which totally freaked the girls out. In the day, the injured kid would still push himself and, in his free time, he would train with Nappa until he passed out and got a good nap. Bulma worked relentlessly on the machine, sending her friends and the saiyans back and forth to deliver messages and get tools to work on it, but the damage was worse than what she thought, and each day she was getting more and more frustrated.

That night Radditz and Nappa stopped to dump some food and water on the floor for them.

"Prince Vegeta is in a tank." Nappa said.

"About time." Bulla answered.

"He got into a tank because we're going on a mission tomorrow." Radditz explained. "He always gets healed before we depart so that he'll give everything."

"The mission is tomorrow?" Trunks asked, a bit alarmed.

"Yes. We depart at 5581." Radditz answered. "We need to discuss how the pods will be arranged. There are three pods for each of us and one more which is carrying the payment for the people on the planet." He explained.

"That's perfect. Then each of us will go in one pod." Goku said.

"No shit." Radditz ground out. "We have to decide now who will go in which one."

"Wouldn't it be better if Vegeta's here to decide who he wants to share a pod with?" Bulla asked.

"He doesn't really care, as long as we're ready for depart when he wakes up" Nappa said.

Goku spoke up:

"Well, since Bulla is the smallest of our group," _and weakest_, "she should travel in the pod with the payment."

"I don't know." Radditz said. "It's a day long trip, and while we'll be in stasis, I don't know if any of you will fit in a pod with Nappa or me."

"What do you suggest we do?" Trunks asked.

"The payment's just a few chests. Four or five, so I think two of you could fit in that pod."

"But that would be uncomfortable." Bulla said. "I doubt that pod will be in stasis."

"It will. All pods always go into automatic stasis once they leave the base, no matter whom or what is inside." Radditz answered.

"Okay. I think Goku and I should go in the payment pod." Bulma said. "In case anything happens, Goku can protect me."

"Well, then I should go with Vegeta." Bulla said, happy.

"Now you just wait. I'm not sharing a pod with him." Both Trunks and Radditz said.

"Why not?" Bulma asked.

"Well, for one thing, both of us won't fit in there." Trunks said.

"Not to mention the pods have only one seat, so someone's gonna have to sit on my legs and that's not gonna be purple-hair over there." Radditz growled.

Now Trunks was in a dilemma. Someone would have to sit on Radditz's legs for an entire day, and that'd either be his sister, his mother, or him. He didn't know what would hurt his pride more. He sighed and punched the bridge of his nose.

"I guess I'll have to travel with Vegeta then."

"What?" Bulla exclaimed. "Trunks! You're my brother! Brothers are supposed to protect their sisters from mean boys!"

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Radditz said, smirking. "Afraid of bad boys?"

Trunks glared at him. "You stay away from my sister." He growled.

"Gee, Trunks, I don't know." The younger boy teased. "A girl in a skirt sitting on my lap… You know how these things are."

Trunks growled and began to power up, but Goku put a hand on his shoulder.

"Remember we have a deal with your prince." The oldest Saiyan said.

"Whoa, cool don. I was just joking."

"It's settled, then." Nappa said. "Blue-hair and the Bardock clone will go in the cargo pod. Little blue hair will go with Radditz and purple hair will go with the prince." He said. "Come on, Radditz. We have training to do."

Radditz nodded and followed him inside.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:** Nope. Still no Saiyan ring on my finger.

* * *

Nobody seemed to notice how the saiyans, who were always extremely rushed and punctual, took a few extra minutes to settle in their pods. Nobody seemed to notice, either, how Radditz smirked and Vegeta glared at the nothingness more than usual. In reality, the group from the future was trying to settle into the pods. Bulla sat on Radditz's legs and rolled her eyes at how the older boy smirked at her. Trunks had to hover inside the pod, hunching so he didn't hit the pod with his head. Once the pods blasted off, they'd change sets and Vegeta would sit on him, judging by how much heavier Trunks was in comparison to Vegeta. Goku hovered as well, so he didn't have to move the chest for the time being, and he carried Bulma with him.

The pods finally closed and left the base. Trunks noticed Vegeta's sigh, but didn't comment on it. He just shifted and sat on the big leather-like seat, with Vegeta sitting on his knees and looking out the window.

'_Entering stasis in 5… 4… 3… 2… Sleeping gas activated." _

* * *

"Wake up." The childlike voice sounded in his ear. Trunks scratched his forehead and blinked a few times, looking at the tiny prince sitting on his legs.

"Are we there yet?"

"No." Vegeta said. "It's three days from the base to the planet, so the pod wakes us up halfway there to have a snack."

"Right." Trunks said, his voice cloudy with sleep. "Then what?"

"The stasis will reactivate in about ten minutes." The child answered. He handed Trunks some kind of bar wrapped in silver paper and grabbed one for himself.

Meanwhile, Bra was blushing. She didn't know she would have to be _awake_ while she shared a cramped pod with the hot, annoying young Saiyan. Radditz leaned over and opened the small compartment below the chair. He gave Bulla one bar.

"What is this?" she asked as she watched him tear the wrap and drive it into his mouth.

"It's a Power Bar. It's the equivalent of a standard meal. Saiyans have to eat at least three to feel satisfied. Unfortunately they usually pack only two and I'm forced to give the extra one to you." He said.

"Well, thank you, then." She said, biting into it. She swallowed it with a wince. "What the… This tastes awful!"

"I know. And they're fucking expensive." Radditz said. "We'll be entering stasis again in a while."

"Why did we wake up anyway?" she asked.

"The pods deactivate the gas automatically after a number of hours." He said.

"Radditz… you don't think you'll need to kill anyone or anything, right?" she asked.

"As much as I hate to admit it, it's an errand, not a purging mission. As long as they don't piss the little devil off…"

"What if they do?"

"Then he'll kill them."

Bulla sighed. "That would be bad."

"Please, try to convince the good-heart in me of not killing innocent people." Radditz said sarcastically.

"I don't mean bad for them. They're already dead anyway…"

"What?"

"Uh… Oh… Uh, nothing. I mean, if they piss Vegeta off they're already dead. Right?" she said, nervous. Radditz noticed but didn't say anything. "It would be bad because Goku wouldn't like it. He's very… serous when it comes to justice and stuff."

"And what will he do about it?"

"Let's just say you're not going to like it."

Radditz scoffed.

"_Reactivating gas: 5… 4… 3… 2… 1"_

* * *

**PRESENT**

"What is taking so long?" Vegeta said, barging into the old man's lab.

"It is more complicated than what I thought, Vegeta." Dr. Briefs said. "It will take longer than this, Vegeta. Much longer." He looked up and saw how Vegeta drove his fists into his eyes. "But I'm sure Bulma is trying to fix the machine back there. Are you sure it took her just a month to build it with the blueprints and everything? This looks like and extremely complex job."

"I… I don't know." He admitted. "I think it was a month… but I really never paid much attention to it. It could've been more."

Dr. Briefs sighed and stretched his back. "I know you're worried, Vegeta, but they're alright. Really. Goku and Trunks are with them."

"You don't know anything, old man." Vegeta said.

Dr. Briefs sighed and got up. "I'm gonna catch a little break, Vegeta."

"What? But you have to keep working on it!"

"I need to rest. If I don't, I'll make clumsy mistakes and take longer."

"Then don't rest too long. We can't lose much more time, old man."

Dr. Briefs sighed as he walked up to the door. "Vegeta, I'm worried as well. It's my daughter and my grandsons we're talking about here… but we have to be patient and have faith."

"It's easy for you to say." Vegeta growled. "I'm not used to things getting down the path I want."

"You should rest as well, son." Dr. Briefs said before walking out the door. Vegeta sighed and followed him outside.

* * *

**PAST**

To say that they were nervous was an understatement. It may have been just a cargo mission, but both Bulla and Bulma remembered clearly what Frieza had said about Planet Yarned not being the Saiyan's biggest fan. The pods landed on a base installed in the middle of the planet. Vegeta frowned as he looked outside and saw three Yarnedians standing there. They were humanoid creatures with horns protruding from their temples and white, furry tails waving behind them. The pods opened slowly and they stepped out. The faces of the Yarnedians twisted into expressions of hatred.

"We didn't know Lord Frieza would send stinky monkeys to deliver our payment." One of them, who, judging by his long, red cape and the brilliant crown on his head, was the king, said. The prince trembled in rage, but tried to calm himself. It wasn't worth the beating.

"Let's get this over with, Yarnedian." Vegeta said. "We don't want to be here either."

Radditz grabbed the chest with the payment from Goku's hands and walked over to step next to his prince.

"Follow me." The king said. "We'll count."

The Yarnedian king led the way with his two minions following him and their counterparts close behind. The saiyans had their tails around their waists as far as they would go, and Radditz's knuckles were white from the way he was clenching the chest. There was an awful feeling of foreboding in the air as they exited the base and the king tossed his head to the side to indicate that they were supposed to fly. Goku carried Bulma and Trunks decided to carry Bulla, since she was much slower than the rest and would get behind.

"So, tell me, _Prince Vegeta_" the king said, looking back at the tiny prince. "Why are you and your men doing Frieza's errands?"

"Because Frieza knows that I could kill you with a flick of my wrists if you cause any trouble." The prince hissed.

"I don't doubt that one bit." The king answered. "I'm just a bit surprised. I heard your planet was destroyed by a meteor some time ago. _How tragic." _He said, chuckling. Vegeta's eyebrow twitched. "But I surely didn't expect the prince, of all people, to end up working for Lord Frieza. I guess we're in the same boat now, huh?"

"We're not in the same boat, yarnedian." The prince said. "We may be working for Frieza now, but if you piss him off it will be me who'll have the privilege of destroying your little mudball and killing your women and children before your eyes."

"Brute and gory like your father." The king answered. "And I thought that the destruction of planet Vegeta would've ridded me of such foul words."

"Well, unfortunately for you, _king_, I am still alive."

"Yes, you and your two friends over there. How unfortunate." The kind said, mocking.

"It won't be long before he does the same to you, yarnedian king." The prince said. "And I only hope it will be us who'll be sent to purge everything here."

They finally landed next to an enormous palace, very similar to the one King Vegeta had, except this one was fancier in design. Three tall towers surrounded a smaller one which held the big entrance carved in something akin to gold. They walked up to the door and two guards opened it for them to pass. They had masks, so they didn't notice the expression of utter surprise and disgust that crossed their faces when the saiyans entered. An enormous throne flanked by two sets of blue-and-red stairs greeted them, and the king sat gracefully on his seat. A man who was patiently waiting behind the throne – possibly the king's counselor – walked over to Radditz and grabbed the chest with an expression of hatred and disgust. Vegeta growled and his tail lashed angrily behind him as the man took the chest away. They weren't going to count the money in front of them.

"This won't take too long." The king said. "Which is good. The scent of monkeys is contaminating my elegant palace."

"Call me monkey again and your planet won't live to witness another sunrise, yarnedian."

"I'm sorry. Do excuse me, prince. It's force of habit."

The little prince growled and crossed his arms, opening his mental channels. Any Saiyan around him could now hear his thoughts and he could receive thoughts from the others as well. He didn't know that Goku was a full Saiyan as well.

"_Nappa, Radditz. He is too confident. He knows we can't harm him and I'm sure he's planning something."_

Goku gasped a little as he looked down at Vegeta. Was the prince talking…? Why was his voice inside his head?

"_I noticed." _Nappa said suddenly. _"We have to be aware. Don't let him get on your nerves."_

"So, tell me, little prince. How is it that you ended up in Frieza's ranks?"

"What do you care?" he growled.

"Let me guess. You had nowhere to go when Vegeta-sei exploded. It's a pity your father passed away. I had been informed that the prince was alive but I didn't know he had two… babysitters." He said. "And who would've thought that Frieza would let a baby on his ship."

"I'm not a baby." He said. "I can rip your throat out."

"I never said your couldn't, now did I?" the king said. "I just said that you are just a child, and I couldn't imagine a boy of your age working for Frieza. Does he pamper you like your father did?"

Vegeta growled. "I am not a child to be pampered. I am a soldier."

"That is so cute." The king chuckled.

"I am not cute!" the child answered back.

"Let's face it, Vegeta. You are Frieza's… _pet._"

Pet. That word. Vegeta hated it with passion. He showed his canines and crouched low into a fighting stance, his tail lashing angrily behind him.

"I AM NOT FRIEZA'S PET!" he screamed.

"Prince Vegeta." Nappa said in an attempt to suit him.

"Oh, my. I thought Frieza had tamed you but I see I was wrong." The king mused.

And that did it.

The tiny prince's body got engulfed in flames as he screamed and he launched himself at the king. The yarnedian's eyes widened as the tiny prince landed a kick on his face, which sent him sprawling to the floor. Before anyone could do anything, Vegeta had the king pinned to the wall and was prepared to punch his face right off. He growled when he heard guards approaching to defend their king, but the man lifted a gloved hand as he stared into the eyes of the little boy.

"So full of hatred…" he said. "It must've hurt." He looked at his guards. "Don't hurt the boy. I assume I am correct, and he is more than just a soldier to Lord Frieza. If we hurt a soldier, that'd be bad, but if we hurt his little… prince, he'd destroy our planet. Am I right, child?"

"No. You couldn't lay a finger on me or my men and if you did, it would be _me _who'd destroy the planet."

"And then Lord Frieza would… punish you, I guess. He wouldn't kill you. There's a reason why he kept you, isn't there?"

The prince didn't have time to answer, because a man came walking calmly into the Throne Room. He looked at the scene but didn't comment on it.

"Your Majesty, the payment is complete."

"Isn't that just the best news?" he said. The prince released his iron grip and landed back on the floor.

"We're leaving now." He said.

"Send my regards to Lord Frieza."

"You want me to kiss his feet for you as well?" the prince muttered without stopping or turning around.

The king heard him, but didn't answer.

"Well, that went surprisingly well." Radditz said. "I thought we were gonna have to kill a few yarnedians."

"Frieza wouldn't allow that and I'd end up paying for it." Vegeta said.

"You almost killed their king." Goku said.

"Almost." Vegeta said. "They don't deserve to leave but this is Frieza's ally to judge. My father would have killed them long ago."

"Let's get out of here." Bulla said. "I have a bad feeling about – "

"_Vegeta" _Frieza's scratchy voice sang in his ear. The prince's scouter-covered eye twitched.

"Lord Frieza."

"_I trust the mission went well?"_

"Yes, sir. We're on our way back."

"_Well, isn't that most unexciting? I thought the yarnedians would get on you, my dear prince."_

"They didn't. We're efficient."

Frieza chuckled. _"Well, then I'm waiting here for you, my prince."_

"We're on our way, master."

* * *

"Master Frieza." Zarbon said. "The cameras have already been installed in the prince's quarters."

"Really, now?" Frieza hissed. "That is superb. The little prince is on his way back. Nobody can tell him that, understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"I'll consider installing them on every room, but as of now, my little pet will be our guinea pig. Speaking of our little soldier, hand me my scouter, will you? I need to give him a call."

* * *

**A/N:**There you go. Thanks for your reviews and keep on reviewing!

See you next time.


	11. Chapter 11

Heya! What's up! Sorry for taking too long, guys!

**Disclaimer: **I don't know anything.

* * *

The four people from the future stood awkwardly as the three Saiyans knelt down before the lizard. Frieza smiled.

"Lord Frieza," Vegeta spoke "The mission was a success."

"Well, I didn't expect anything else from my favorite monkey." The overlord taunted. "Why don't you go take a bath and rest for a little while? The cafeteria will be open all night. This is my gift for you, Vegeta."

"Thank you, sir." Vegeta ground out.

"You're most welcome, prince. We wouldn't want any of my ground soldiers dead _again_ because your stomach was bit empty, now would we?"

"No, sir."

That sent a chill down the earthlings' spines. It meant that, at one time, Vegeta had been so hungry that he had resorted to kill a soldier and devour him without caring about Frieza's punishment for it. And he probably had been five at the time.

"You're dismissed."

* * *

After they took a bath and filled their stomachs, Nappa and Radditz went to their rooms, Vegeta went to train and the earthlings went outside to check on their machine. It was still intact.

Vegeta entered a training room that had a few soldiers gathered around and glared at them. They all backed off a little and continued their training in silence while the little prince began to perform katas and punch invisible opponents.

The day went on and the night caught Bulma and Trunks working, Bulla trying to comb her hair, Radditz and Nappa sleeping and Vegeta tiredly walking back to his room. When he entered, he noticed Goku looking around, waiting for him.

"Ugh. What do you want?"

"Bulma already knows what else she needs." Goku said.

"I'll get it for you when I get a little rest." He said, climbing on his bed.

Goku nodded and left the room.

* * *

Frieza smirked as the screen beeped. Vegeta had entered his room.

He looked tired… and annoyed.

"_Ugh. What do you want?"_

Frieza's eyes widened. Then he narrowed them, trying to look for someone else in the small bedroom. The prince was alone.

"_I'll get it for you when I get a little rest."_

He looked back at Zarbon, who was also looking at the screen.

"Am I going blind, Zarbon?"

"No, Lord Frieza." The green alien answered. "I think the monkey prince is going insane."

But then the door to the room opened. Nobody came in. It closed up again and Vegeta closed his eyes, falling asleep.

Frieza bit the nail on his thumb and rested his back against the back of the hover chair.

"Should I bring him here so that you can question him, sir?" Zarbon asked.

Frieza shook his head. He had to investigate a bit first, know what Vegeta was hiding exactly, why, and more importantly, _how. _If it was nothing, then questioning him could only end up two ways: one where the prince would end up dead because he wouldn't admit it, or one where Frieza would end up sending him into a tank without getting any real answers because the prince didn't really have anything to say. He didn't want to kill Vegeta, and the latter would only create a rumor where people would think that mighty Lord Frieza had been unable to break tiny prince Vegeta.

"No. We'll observe him first."

* * *

The next day rolled around and caught Frieza staring out the window, his tail waving slowly. His two minions stood behind him, looking at him warily, trying to decide what he was thinking and how to act.

"Zarbon, Dodoria."

"Yes, master?"

"Let's give a use to that camera. Give the prince a training session the way only you know how to. Then take him to his room."

Both of them smiled and Zarbon called the little prince.

* * *

" – I will also need seven of these type of screws and a few glass panels to protect the control panel we're trying to build." Bulma explained.

"Glass? That's preposterous. Use kyvon instead." Vegeta said.

"What's kyvon?"

"It's like glass but indestructible." Radditz answered.

"Yeah, whatever you can get as long as it can be used above the control panel without any trouble."

Vegeta was about to answer when his scouter beeped.

"_Good morning, monkey prince."_

"What do you want." He ground out.

"_Watch that mouth, Vegeta. Lord Frieza ordered that we give you a training session right now. So get your ass moving. Training Room 9."_

Vegeta closed his eyes as the transmission ended.

"Everything alright?" Bulma asked.

"I… I'll be gone for a while, but these two buffoons, I hope, will be able to get you what you need in the meantime." He answered.

"Where are you going?" Trunks asked.

"Why the hell do you care?"

"I just want to know if you'll be gone for a long time." Trunks said quietly. "What did they tell you?"

Vegeta's eyebrow twitched as he glared at them.

"I'm going to have a training session." He muttered. "I don't know how long it'll be or if I'll get a tank afterwards."

With that, he turned on his heel and walked back into the compound.

* * *

He paled when he saw that Dodoria was there as well. When Zarbon had said "we", he hadn't really thought about it. He tried not to show his fear as he stood before the two smirking men. Their smiles broadened and Vegeta's tail tightened around his waist. He hoped that he would at least get a tank once they were finished, and promised to himself – once again – that this time he would not beg.

"How are you, Vegeta? Did you sleep well?"

"Let's just get this over with." He muttered.

"As you wish."

The little prince took his armor off so that it wouldn't get cracked or covered in blood and left it in the corner. He was being slammed against the ground before he could even turn around. He tried not to cry out as Zarbon grabbed his hair and flung him towards Dodoria, who kicked him into the next wall. Both laughed as the little prince wrapped his arms around his stomach and coughed.

He opened one of his eyes and got up, clenching his fists. Zarbon flew up to him and Vegeta put his arms up, blocking the man's punch, but unable to see his foot going directly into his ribs. As he flew backwards, Dodoria slammed his spiky forearm into his back, making him cry out as the spikes slammed into him.

As he was on the floor, Zarbon slammed his foot into the small of his back, making him cry out again.

"Well, I already have a report for Lord Frieza. You're getting lazy." Zarbon said. "I think he will need to intensify his training regimen. This one isn't working."

His fear intensified and he began to trash. Zarbon and Dodoria just laughed and the former removed his foot. Vegeta got to his feet and began to fire ki blasts at them, but both were unfazed. They smirked.

Zarbon walked up to him and Vegeta dropped into a defensive stance, walking backwards. The green alien smiled and grabbed both of the prince's forearms, slamming him against the wall. He then wrapped his hand around his neck and squeezed. Vegeta began to gasp and the cruel man began to slam his body against the wall he was being pinned against. Vegeta tried to gasp, but he couldn't breathe.

A dent formed in the wall and Zarbon finally threw him at Dodoria. The pink blob caught him with a fist to his stomach and he crashed against the ground. Vegeta coughed blood before Dodoria sank his fist into his hair and began to slam his face against the metal floor. Vegeta began to scream as blood ran down his nose and forehead and his face was slammed again, and again, and over and over again.

When Dodoria stopped, Vegeta saw everything red from the blood seeping into his eyes. The world around him was spinning and he had to clench his stomach so that he wouldn't throw up with every shaky breath he took. He tried to get up but he couldn't find his feet fast enough before Dodoria kicked him back to Zarbon.

This time Vegeta's body reacted and he hovered before reaching the green man. He tried to focus on him and put his arms before his face, trying to protect himself. But Zarbon was faster than him and grabbed his wrist, whirling him around to, once again, crash against the wall. He grunted as his wrist and shoulder snapped. As he lay there, sitting on the ground with his back against the wall, Zarbon slammed his knees against his torso and a set of cracks let him know that his ribs were now broken.

He tried to catch his breath, but Zarbon kicked him, making him land face first on the ground, and turned him around, slamming the back of his head against the floor. Vegeta felt warm liquid running down the back of his neck as Zarbon began to punch every inch of the saiyan's body that he could reach. Soon Vegeta was screaming, his whole body begging for a rest. His ribs snapped and punctured his organs.

After a while, Zarbon finally got up and looked at the tiny Saiyan struggling for air. He was trembling, his eyes clenched shut. Blood ran down his temples, forehead, nose and mouth and the blood seeping from the back of his head and his backside – from Dodoria's spikes – was forming a pool under him.

Half a minute later, he slowly sat up and glared at the two men before him. His eyes widened when Zarbon lifted a hand that glowed with ki. But soon anger overcame his fear and he growled.

"You sick bastards." He said.

Dodoria laughed. "How brave."

Vegeta barely had time to close his eyes before a barrel of ki blasts hit his body. He screamed and tried to drag himself away from the painful blasts that burnt him. He could feel his skin ripping apart and he could see the smoke rising from his body as he finally reached a corner and tried to make himself as small as possible. Soon he was squirming and convulsing as the ki blasts got more powerful, some of them breaking his bones. When the cruel monsters finally stopped, Vegeta realized that tears were streaming down his face. He whimpered in pain.

"Oh, come on. Your already _crying?" _Zarbon said. "What a pathetic weakling! Why do we even bother to waste our time trying to train such a dirty little shit like you?"

"No wonder his father didn't want him." Dodoria said. "He practically begged Lord Frieza to take him away and turn him into a man."

"And so far we're failing. He's still a little bitch."

Vegeta looked away as he held his destroyed body. He swallowed and tried to regain his breath.

"I-I… I'm not a l-little b-b-bitch. Y-you're the o-only fu-fucking p-pillow biting dirtbags a-around." He reveled in their surprised faces and began to get up slowly. The ki blasts had broken one of his legs and both of his arms, not to mention several other bones around his body and practically skinned him alive. "M-my father wanted me and-and would've n-never sold me out. I-it was Frieza's f-fault."

"Vegeta, you want to keep your tongue I'm sure. Or have you forgotten a year ago when we had to tear it out of your mouth?" Zarbon said.

Vegeta began to tremble in fear. How could he have forgotten that? It was one of the things that made him think twice before speaking in front of Frieza.

Dodoria smirked and walked up to him, scoffing as Vegeta pressed his back against the wall and looked up at him through swollen, fear-filled eyes.

"Maybe we could try that again? Take that tongue out and watch you cry without being able to talk." The man said cruelly.

Vegeta clamped his mouth shut and shook his head frantically. The pink blob laughed and kicked his broken leg, making him fall face first on the ground.

"Or maybe we could tear his tail off." Zarbon suggested. "Then he won't look as disgusting."

Both laughed as Dodoria pressed his foot against the child's back and grabbed his tail.

"No! No." Vegeta gasped, eyes wide.

"Are you pleading, monkey?"

"…"

Dodoria smiled nastily before breaking one of the bones in his tail. Vegeta screamed with all his might and tried to squirm away, but Dodoria kept on twisting the broken tail further. Vegeta's voice went an octave higher and Dodoria lowered his hands to look for another bone, this time bigger and closer to the base.

He broke it. Vegeta screamed again and his body shook with sobs.

Dodoria kept on looking for bones to break for a long while before Vegeta finally gave in.

"NOOO! NO MORE PLEASEE!" he screamed after Dodoria crushed a bone particularly close to his backside. His sobs were making him heave and tears soaked his face. "Please, stop."

"Does that hurt, monkey?" Zarbon said, walking up to him. He closed his fist around the destroyed, tiny tail and squeezed.

"AAAHHHH – god, please! PLEASE-AAHHHH!"

Both men finally released the broken tail and Zarbon cleaned his bloodied hand on his chestplate.

"Enough fun. Get up, Vegeta. We're gonna train seriously now."

Vegeta swallowed before trying to get up, but the pain was unbearable when he tried to move his legs. He fell on his face again and once again tried to get up. His broken arms were the ones that gave in this time.

Trying a different approach, he rolled onto his side and tried to sit up, but his ribs protested and he fell back.

After several failed attempts, he finally managed to, shakily, get on his feet, but a second later he was on his hands and knees, throwing up.

"Fine, then. We'll attack." Zarbon said.

And both men began to beat the broken child mercilessly.

* * *

"I did it!" Bulma exclaimed, startling the three sleeping people around her.

"You fixed the machine?" Trunks asked, wide-eyed.

"No, but while you slept, I used the things that the sayians brought that were not necessary for the machine to create an interdimensional communicator." She said. "It must be the stress. Back on Earth it would've taken me months to build something like this up. And without blueprints!"

"Interdimensional communicator?" Trunks asked. "Does that mean that we can call dad from where we are?"

"We will hardly be able to talk to him for long and the connection won't be perfect, but it's built from what I remember of the time machine, so we can connect inter-dimensionally, through space and time. Am I not a genius?"

"That's awesome!" Goku said. "We can call everyone and tell them we're fine."

Bulma nodded. "We'll call Capsule Corp. first." She took a deep breath. "Let's hope this works."

* * *

**PRESENT.**

Vegeta woke up from his nap with a start. Lately, he had been sleeping a lot. Worrying for his family was taking a toll on him and he was surprised that he hadn't destroyed Capsule Corporation yet. He had, however, beaten Yamcha and Krillen several times before being stopped by Gohan and Goten.

He was tired, angry and sorrowful. It had been weeks and they had not returned. He was extremely worried and he was, sincerely, accepting the fact that they wouldn't return.

But then his chest would ache and he would feel a horrible knot in his stomach and his throat and everything in him screamed that they were _alive _and they _would come back_. They were with Kakkarot, for god's sakes! Nothing could ever beat him in _that_ timeline. Or that place, for that matter.

And Trunks was also with them! Kakkarot was absent-minded but Trunks would never leave Bulma or Bulla alone with the soldiers, much less Frieza… right?

He listened for a minute or two the phone ringing. He usually never answered, but he was practically alone.

The blonde woman was out with some friends – as if her daughter and grandsons hadn't disappeared all of a sudden – and the old man was in the lab, working on the new time machine that was taking way too long in the prince's opinion.

He didn't know what moved him to get up from the couch and walk up to the table.

"What?" he answered, grumpily.

"_Vegeta?"_

"Who is this?"

"_What the hell do you mean 'who is this'? It's your goddamned wife!"_

Vegeta's eyes widened. Her voice sounded extremely distant and a constant "ccshhhh" sounded louder than her.

"BULMA? Where are you? Are you alright?"

Bulma giggled a little. _"Yes, honey. I'm fine and the kids are okay, too."_

Vegeta relaxed and anger invaded him. "WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU AND WHAT THE FUCK WHERE YOU THINKING YOU STUPID WOMAN? WHAT WAS GOING ON IN YOUR BRAINLESS HEAD TO EVEN CONSIDER GOING BACK TO MY PAST?"

"_Calm down, dammit! We don't have much time, Vegeta. This thing won't last for too long. Look, I'm really sorry. I don't know what I was thinking when I came here… I'm really sorry. But, hey, we're alright and nothing has happened to us." _She said soothingly.

"You're an idiot and I hate you." He growled. "When you come back I will fucking rip your throat out in front of those two brats you call children and feed it to your father's cat."

"_Yeah, right. Whatever you say, prince."_

"Now answer me: Why the fuck aren't you back yet? Has anyone seen you? What's going on?"

"_Something very strange happened, honey. We kinda touched your younger self and your friends Nappa and Radditz, and now the three of them can see us. But it's okay because they're helping us to repair our machine because it broke down severely and we can't use it. With their help we'll be done in no time and we'll be back home. Don't worry." _She explained, hoping against hope that he wouldn't throw a fit over them getting to meet little Vegeta.

"YOU WHAT? YOU'RE TALKING TO MY YOUNGER SELF _AND _NAPPA AND RADDITZ? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?" He screamed at the top of his lungs.

"_It was an accident. They're being extremely helpful and – "_

"What did you offer them?"

"_What?"_

"My younger self and my ex-comrades wouldn't have helped a bunch of morons like you. What did you promise them in return?"

"_Uh… Uhm, we…"_

"Please. Please don't tell me that you told him you would bring him back with you." Bulma stayed quiet. Vegeta pinched the bridge of his nose and swallowed. "Bulma, you can't bring him back. He is a mass murderer. He is what I was when I first came to Earth and when we met on Namek. And worse, because he is still a little boy with no morals. You can't risk your safety and the safety of others like that. _And_, if you lied to him, then you are crueler than Frieza himself."

Bulma sighed. _"It was not me who promised to take him away from this place, Vegeta. But trust me, he isn't that bad. I know that. I knew that about you and I'm sure I'm not wrong about him either. He's you, but younger and weaker and more vulnerable. I didn't want to bring him along in the first place. It was your daughter's idea, but I think I'm starting to agree with her. Don't worry, honey. We'll go through it together." _She said. _"If you changed, then why can't he?"_

"Stop blabbering such nonsense, woman." He growled. "Just… try to be safe. Okay?"

"_Hey, cheer up! We're with Goku and Trunks. We're alright." _She said. _"I gotta go now. I'll try to keep calling. Just try to relax a bit. We're fine and we'll be back as soon as I fix this machine."_

Vegeta hesitated a bit and then spoke. "I told your father to build a time machine as well. If you're not back by the time he's done with it, I'll go and pick you up myself."

"_What? No, you c –" _A beeping sound was the next thing he heard.

He sighed deeply and hung up the phone.

At least they were alright.

* * *

Dodoria carried the sobbing prince to his room and dumped him on the floor.

Vegeta whimpered as pain wracked his body. It was unbearable and he wanted nothing more than to pass out. After staying a minute on the ground, he began to drag his broken body up to the bed, leaving a trail of dark blood behind.

He spent around ten minutes trying to get on the bed, and once he did, he rolled into a tight ball and cried inconsolably into his knees. He was so angry, so tired, and everything hurt so bad… He cried his little heart out, in physical pain, emotional pain… he just wanted to get out of that place.

He thought of his father… He knew King Vegeta hadn't _sold_ him out, because he had said goodbye and told him to be strong right before leaving… But he would certainly disown him now if he could see him. The King of such a mighty race would not want such a neglected, weak, beaten boy who couldn't stand a training session without begging. Who had ever heard of a weeping Saiyan prince? It was disgusting of him to cry.

But what else could he do? He could not fight back. They were much stronger and the more he fought, the crueler they became. There wasn't much he could do about it and he just couldn't hold it in when he was alone. He had to get it out somehow…

He wanted life to be just a little fair to him.

Someone knocked on his door and he tried to stop crying. Little sobs replaced his wails, but he couldn't stop them.

"Wh-what?" he said, trying to sound strong.

"Prince Vegeta." Radditz called. "Are you alright?"

"Leave me, you fool!" he said. "Of course I'm fine."

But Radditz could hear the trembling of his voice and entered the room. He tried to control his anger as he saw the destroyed little boy on the bed and sat down at the edge. Nappa stayed at the door, taking deep breaths not to punch a hole through the wall.

Radditz began with the procedure, taking the spandex off of the battered frame and trying to clean him up and apply healing balms on him as fast as possible.

As soon as he was finished, he got up and left without a word; something Vegeta was infinitely thankful. He was not in the mood to talk.

* * *

Frieza could not be happier than what he was at the moment.

Watching the little proud prince crying his little heart out had been the best thing of his day. He hadn't seen Vegeta cry so hard for a long time. He had seen him cry, and scream and beg, of course. But he had always sobbed, and it had been a long time since he heaved such heart-wrenching wails.

And he was almost sure that he did so almost every night… he had been missing out on this beautiful spectacle for a year!

He was about to turn the camera off when someone knocked on the prince's door. He raised an eyebrow and waited.

Radditz and Nappa came in, and the former was carrying something in his hand. A little bag.

Zarbon and Dodoria entered the Throne Room then, but Frieza ignored them.

He watched, with a mixture of amusement and indignity, as Radditz undressed the little boy and healed him.

The saiyans had been stealing from him.

He took a deep breath and turned his hover chair back around to glare outside.

He was thinking about a fitting punishment for them when he heard the prince's door opening from the screen. He turned back around and saw the door of the prince's room open, but there was nobody there.

"_Leave me alone." _He sobbed.

The door closed.

Frieza turned the screen off and growled.

He looked up at Zarbon and clenched his fists.

"Bring a whore to my room."

* * *

Bulma and Trunks stood at the door, their hearts breaking at the scene.

"Leave me alone." Vegeta sobbed.

"Vegeta…" Bulma said softly. "I'm sorry you had to go through this."

"Shut up and leave me alone." He growled. "Go back to your machine, you bitch."

Bulma looked at Trunks and then back at Vegeta. He was curled into a little ball, trembling. She passed a hand through her hair.

After a long moment of hesitation, she walked up to the bed.

"Mom…" Trunks said, warningly.

She sat at the edge of the prince's bed and looked down at him.

"Stay away from me." He said between clenched teeth.

But Bulma didn't move away.

"Vegeta." She said softly. "I know what you're feeling. I know you're not crying only because you're hurt."

"You know nothing."

"But I do. I know about your father, and your planet. I know about Frieza and the other soldiers and what they say to you. You don't have to believe them… and you don't have to be alone."

"STOP IT BEFORE I KILL YOU!" he screamed. But he didn't move, and that was enough to let Bulma know that she was hitting the spot.

She slowly put a hand on his shoulder. The prince tensed but he didn't move. She slowly, very slowly began to rub his back. Vegeta trembled even more and tiny sobs spurted again from his mouth.

"It's alright." She whispered.

She turned him around very slowly, trying not to hurt him. Vegeta didn't look directly at her, but he let her turn him all the way around.

Trunks's eyes widened when she lied next to him and hugged him against her.

Vegeta broke into tears again.

Maybe he had hit his head too hard. Maybe he was in too much pain.

Maybe he was not as tough as he believed himself to be.

But damnit all if Bulma's hug wasn't exactly what he needed.


End file.
